BERKELEY 

LIBRARY 

UN1V6RSITY  OP 
CALIFORNIA 


Arranged  and  Published  by 
THOMAS  J.  NOONAN. 


Historical  Pictures  from  Collection  of 
EDWARD  FREIBERGER. 


Plates  and  Engravings 
F.  G.  JUNGBLUT  &  CO. 


Press  of 
RAND,  McNALLY  &  CO. 


iKOfflfOIS  THCaTRfi 


RANDOLPH 

BETWEEN  STATE  AND 

DEARBORN  STS., 

CHICAGO 


Dedicatory' 
"pciySrmance 


Openinjr 
^^       e>^itractioiv 

NOVEMBER,  23 J  1      Kif^aRl^GERS. 

^05 Ij /HRDLVEDEnRD 


IROQUOIS  THEATRE    RANDOLPH    BETWEEN   STATE  AND   DEARBORN   STREETS,   CHICAGO.  ILL. 


r 


II 


Iroquois  Theatre 


RANDOLPH,  BETWEEN   STATE 
AND   DEARBORN   STREETS 


CHICAGO 


erected  and  owned  by 
The  Iroquois  Theatre  Company 

directors  and  proprietors 

William  J.  Davis  Harry  J.  Powers 

A.  L.  Erlanger  J.  Fred  Zimmerman 

Sam'l  F.  Nixon  Marc  Klaw 

WILLIAM  J.  DAVIS.  HARRY  J.  POWERS,  Resident  Owners  and  Managers 


The  Business  and  Working  Staff  Includes 

THOMAS  J.  NOONAN,  Business  Manager  and  Treasurer 

EinVARl)    J.    DiLI.OiN      I  Tj^^,    ,  , 

ITT        T    A  T       1-  rsox  '  ' 

Will  J.  Davis,  Jr.    ) 

Helen  Hag  ax,  Secretary 

J.  E.  G.  Ryan,  Press  Rei-resentative 

Antonio  Frosolono,  Director  of  Music 

G.  N.  Disenberry,  Doorkeeper 

Ed.  J.  Clmmings,  Master  Carpenter 

Walter  Hueston,  Electrician 

Robert  Murray,  Engineer 


613 


IROQUOIS  THEATRE 

Randolph,  between  State  and  Dearborn  Sts.,  Chicago. 


Beginning    Monday,    November   23,    1903. 
E,very    E,vening,    Including    Sunday. 
Wednesday  and  Saturday  Matinees. 


KLAW    6    EF^LANGELF^    present 

MR.  BLUE,  BEARD 

The  Great  Spectacular  Entertainment  from   Theatre  R^oyal. 
Drury     Lane,     London 

By     J.    HICKORY      WOOD    and    ARTHUR      COLLINS 

Adapted  for  the  American  Stage  by  JOHN    J.     McNALLY 

The  Lyrics,  unless  otherwise  indicated,  by  J.  Cheever  Goodwin. 

Music,  unless  otherwise  indicated,  by  Frederic  Solomon. 

Ballets  by  Ernest  D'Auban. 

Produced  under  Stage  Direction  of  Herbert  Gresham  and  Ned  Wayburn. 

Business  Direction  of  Jos.  Brooks.    Edwin  H.  Price,  Manager. 

SYNOPSIS    OF    SCENES.    MUSIC    AND     INCIDE,NTS 

ACT  T. 
Scene  1— The  Market  Place  on  the  Quay,  near  Bagdad.    (.Bruce  Smith.) 

Mustapha  plots  to  separate  Selim  and  Fatima  and  sell  the  beautiful  Fatima  to  the 
monster  Blue  Beard.  Blue  Beard  arrives;  purchasess laves.  Sister  Anne  falls  in  love 
with  Blue  Beard  and  spurns  Irish  Patshaw.  Blue  Beard  seizes  Fatima  and  takes  her 
on  board  his  yacht. 

Opening  Chorus— 

a.  "Come,  Buy  Our  Luscious  Fruits." 

b.  "  Oriental  Slaves  Are  We." 

c.  "  We  Come  From  Dalmatia." 

d.  Algerian  Slave  Song  and  Chorus. 

aa.    Grand  Entrance  Blue  Beard's  Retinue.     Medley  Ensemble. 

bb.    Song—"  A  Most  Unpopular  Potentate,"  Blue  Beard  and  Chorus. 
a.    "Welcome  Fatima." 
Song — "I'm  As  Good  As  I  Ought  To  Be,"  Blanche  Adams. 
Finale— "Then  Away  We  Go." 

POWERS'   THEATRE    THIS    WEEK    W.    H.    CRANE    IN 
"THE  SPENDERS" 

ILLINOIS   THEATRE    THIS   WEEK    CHAS.   FROHMAN 
PRESENTS "ULYSSES" 


Only  Way" 


THE  "ALTON"  OCCUPIES 
THE  SAME  RELATIVE 
POSITION  AMOJVG  RAIL- 
WAYS AS  THE  IROQUOIS 
HOLDS  AMONG  THE 
THEATRES    OF   AMERICA 

CITY  TICKET  OFFICE 
lOl  ADAMS  ST.,  CHICAGO 


Scene  2-On  Board  Blue  Beard's  Yacht.    (Bruce  Smith.) 
Fatinia  with  Selim  attempts  to  escape  from  Blue  Beard's  yacht,  but  i.^;  prevented. 
Selim  jumps  overboard. 

Opening  Chorus— "There's  Nothing  Like  The  Life  We  Sailors  Lead." 
Duet— Miss  Rafter  and  ]Miss  Adams. 

"  Beautiful  World  It  Would  Be."    (Harrv  Von  Tilzer.)     Harry  Gilfoil. 
"  I'm  a  Poor  Unhappy  Maid."    (Jerome  a'nd  Schwartz.)    Eddie  Foy. 
Finale—"  He's  Gone." 

Scene  3— The  Isle  of  Ferns.    (H.  Emden.) 
Fairv  Queen  appears  to  Selim,  promises  him  her  aid  and  the  power  or  tlie  Magic 
Fan  to  reunite  him  to  his  loved  one  and  to  protect  them  from  evil. 
Scene  4— The  Laud  of  Ferns.    (H.  Emden.) 
Ballet  of  Ferns- Procession  and   waving  of   the  Magic  Fan,  by  the  Fairies  and 
Grand  Corps  de  Ballet. 

ACT  II 
.Scene  1— i  ik-  i^a>Tie  Terrace  ami  i.ai  ucn^.     i  .ut*.  irci  > .  > 
Fatima  believes  Selim  dead  and  agrees  to  marry  Blue  Beard.     She  get> 
the  Castle  from  Blue  Beard,  who  enjoins  her  not  to  open  the  Blue  Chamber, 
Opening  Chorus—"  Davlight  is  Dawning." 

"Songbirds  of  Melody  Lane,"  Beatrice  Liddell,  Elsie  Romaine,  and  Chorus.    (Ed- 
wards and  Brvan.)  .     ,,      .  J 
"Beer  That  Made   Milwaukee  Famous."     (Harry  Gilfoil. >     Bonnie  Magmn  and 
Pony  Ballet. 

Sister  Anne  and  the  Pet  Elephant. 

"In  the  Pale  Moonlight."    (Jerome  and  Woodward.) 

"Ma  Honey."    (Hoffman.)     Bonnie  IMaginn  and  Chori- 

Scene  2 — Chamber  of  Curiosities.    (Mc»„n.t  ■  _>  .  r 
Conquered  by  curio.'^ity,  Fatima  opens  the  Blue  Chamber  and  discovers  Blue  Beard's 
awful  secret. 

Blue  Beard's  wives  discovered. 

Scene  3— Home  of  the  Old  Woman  Who  Lived  In  a  Shoe.    (E  Albert,  i 
The  disobedient  children. 
Song — "  Wake  L"p  Mammv,"  Maude  Nugent. 

.Song— "  Mother  Eve."    (Schwartz.)    Eddie  Foy,  Pony  Ballet,  and  Chorus. 
Scene  4— Hall  in  Blue  Beard's  Palace.    (E.  Albert.) 
Dancing  Specialty  by  Frank  Young  and  Bessie  De  Voie.    Music  by  C.  Herbert  Kerr. 
Scene  5— Triumph  of  the  Magic  Fan.     (H.  Emden.) 

Tableau  1— The  Land  of  Palms.  Tableau  4— Japan. 

Tableau  2— EgvT)t  Tableau  .5— Parisian  Rose  Garden. 

Tableau  3— Indi;.  Tableau  (5-^  ~e  Garden. 

heosis. 

THE  (;R1G()I..\TIS  TROUPE  OF  .A.KR1.\I,IS  1  S 
Xellie  Reed,  Premiere,  and  Grand  Corps  de  Ballet. 


Scene  1— Hall  of  Pleasure  in  Blue  Beard's  Palace.     (E.  Albert,  i 

Scenes  of  revelry  in  Blue  Beard's  absence. 
Opening  Chorus— "Let  Us  Be  Jolly  As  Long  As  We  Can." 

"Spoony  Mooney  Night."    (Gus  Edwards.)    Bonnie  Maginn  and  Chorus. 

Ponv  Ballet  Specialtv.     Music  bv  Jean  Schwartz. 

"  Juiie."    (Wm.  Jerome  and  Jeaii  Schwartz.)    Herbert  Cawthorne  and  Chorus. 

Blue  Beard  returns  unexpectedly. 

Sister  .\nne  gives  evidence  of  temporary  insanity.    Imagines  herself  Ophelia. 
Song- "Hamlet"  Was  a  Melancholy    Dane,"   Eddie    Foy.      (Wm.  Jerome    and   John 

Schwartz.)  " : 

Blue  Beard  discovers  that  Fatima  has  disobeyed  him  and  threatens  her  and  her 
friends  with  death. 

Scene  3— Below  the  Ramparts.     (Hicks  and  Brooks.) 

Blue  Beard  gives  Fatima  one  hour  in  which  to  accept  his  offer  of  marriage  or  per- 
ish with  her  friends.  Selim  summons  Fairies'  aid.  Attack  on  the  castle  by  the  Fairy 
Army.    Fatima  and,l)ftr  Jxiends  in  periU     .  . . 

Scene  3— The  Fairy  Palace.    (Bruce  S'"'"^  > 

Blue  Beard  is  overthrown  and  the  lovers  are  reunited. 

Entrance  and  triumph  of  the  Fairy  .\riny. 

Grand  Transformation  Scene. 


Trains  of  Quality 


"20th  Century  Limited" 

CHICAGO-NEW    YORK 
IN  20  HOURS 

Leave  CHICAGO,  daily.. 12.30  p.m. 

Arrive  NEW  YORK,  daily 9.30  a.  m. 


"The  LaHe  Shore  Limited' 

CHICAGO-NEW  YORK,  24    HOURS 
CHICAGO    BOSTON    •    26}4  HOURS 

Leave    CHICAGO,  daily 5  30  p.  ni. 

Arrive  NEW  YORK,  daily 6.30  p.  m. 

Arrive  BOSTON,  daily 9.03  p.  m. 


CITY    TICKET    OFFICIL 
180    CLARK    STREET 

A.  J.  SMITH,  Gen'l  Pass'r  and  Tkt.  Agt.,  CLEVELAND,  OHIO 
C.  F.  DALY,  Chief  Assistant  Gen'l  Pass  r  Agt.,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


CAST    OF    CHARACTERS 

MR.  BLUE  BEARD HARRY  GILFOIL 

SISTER  ANNE EDDIE  FOY 

FATIMA  MISS  BLANCHE  ADAMS 

SELIM ADELE  RAFTER 

IMER  DASHER BONNIE   MAGIXX 

ABDALLAH NORA  CECIL 

MUSTAFHA  ROBERTA.  EVANS 

IRISH  PATSHAW HERBERT  CAWTHORXE 

HATRAC  J.  SARONY  LAMBERT 

KORAFAI BESSIE   DE  VOIK 

ABADDIN SAM  REED 

ABUMUN FRANK  YOUNG 

MIRZA .- -MISS  DUPONT 

ZAIDEE ^  MISS  WYNNE 

AMINA J  \    MISS  RICHARDS 

ZARA I    Blue  Beard's  Six  J    :\IISS  BEAUTE 

NADIE -    r     Prettv  Wives,     "^i    MISS   WILLIAMS 

BECA \  '  I    - MISS  ROMAINK 

ZOLI  ;  {    MISS  BRANDT 

LAIDOPF    ^  r    BERTEWING 

DUNFOR  i  \    L.  A.  MASSETTE 

KNOUSE [    Blue  Beard's  Six  J    C.  W.  NORTHRUP 

BADUN r       Ug-lv  Wives.       i    JOHN    VATKS 

BACNUM I  ■  E.Z.MORA 

PASSAI '  I    CHAUNCEY  HOLLAND 

STELLA,  Queen  of  the  Fairies MISS  ANABELLE  WHITFORD 

Elephant  and  Head  Tricks  by  Lambert  and  Gallagher. 

PONY     BALLET:     SEPPIE     MCNEIL,     LOUIE     H.\UMAN,     AD.\    ROBERTSON. 

BEATRICE     LIDDELL,     ELIZABETH     HAUMAN,     EVA    MARLOWE, 

DOROTHV     MARLOWE,     CAROLINE     POLTZ. 


Costumes  designed  by  Comelli,  London.  Made  by  Alias,  Auguste,  Simmons, 
Baruch,  D'Allessandri,  and  Harrison,  London,  Paris,  and  Berlin. 

Costumes  for  Specialties,  "Ma  Honey,"  "In  the  Pale  Moonlight,"  "The  Old  Woman 
Who  Lived  In  a  Shoe,"  and  the  Pony  Ballet,  de.signed  by  F.  Richard  Anderson  ;  made 
by  Klaw  &  Erlanger  Costume  Company. 

Shoes  by  Cammeyer.  Tights  by  the  Brooklyn  Knitting  Co.  Wigs  by  Clarkson 
London,  and  Hepner,  New  York.    Electrical  effects  by  H.  Bissing  &  Co. 


Z,XE,CUTIVE,    STAFF 

Business  Manager Mr.  Samuel  Harrison 

Stage  Manager Will  Carleton 

Assistant  Stage  Managers Wm.  Plunkett,  Carl  Kahn 

Musical  Director Herbert  Dillea 

Ballet  Mistress Mme.  Sarraco 

Mechanical  Department Max.  Mazzanovich,  J.  Andrew  and  Wm.  Owen.'i 

Properties Wm.  Price 

Electrician Wm.  Dunn 

Wardrobe  Mistress Mrs.  Quist 

Assistant  Wardrobe  Mistress Mrs.  Kelly 

Wardrobe  Man Bert  Ewmg 

Armorer Wm.  Shermna 


THE  THEATRE 

By  Charles  E.  Nixon 


THE  pioneer  days 
of  players  iisino- 
the  vernacular 
were  anything  but 
"palmy."  These  poor 
wandering  Thespians 
were  opprobriously 
called  "vagabonds,"  and 
when  they  attempted  to 
give  performances  in  the 
larger  towns,  the  author- 
ities, under  pressure  of 
the  prevailing  sentiment, 
were  ever  trying  to  for- 
bid them.  As  a  result 
of  petty  persecution  and 
municipal  meddling,  a  great  change  eventually  came 
about,  bettering  both  the  drama  and  its  expositors, 
for  the  players  wisely  abandoned  strolling  and  pre- 
pared to  establish  themselves  permanently 


MR    B.  H.   MARSHALL 


Undesirable  tenants,  the  actors  were  forced,  as  a 
makeshift,  to  build  houses  of  their  own  beyond  the 
town  limits.  Fairly  familiar  with  the  classic  drama, 
they  had  neither  the  means  nor  the  motive  for 
reproducing  the  imposing  slavcbuilt  theatres  of 
antiquity,  seen  amid  the  ruins  of  Rome  and  Athens. 
As  the  strollers  had  been  accustomed  to  performing 
in  the  court-yards  of  humble  inns  or  feudal  castles,  a 
simple  enclosed  court  served  their  modest  architect- 
ural ambitions.  Their  most  popular  model  was 
square  eighty  feet  in  each  direction,  the  central  por- 
tion open  to  the  sky.  The  enclosure  was  a  quadrangle 
of  galleries  that  were  divided  into  "  rooms  "  for  the 
wealthy  and  aristocratic  class.  Currently  these 
"  rooms"  would  flank  the  stage  and  be  called  boxes; 
as  it  was  then  the  lords  and  ladies  occupied  the 
galleries  exclusively. 

The  ground  floor  was  so  in  reality,  for  it  was 
merely  a  yard  wherein  the  ordinary  spectators  had 
to  stand.  Projected  into  this  space  was  a  platform 
forty  feet  square  which  served  as  a  stage.  Along  the 
base  of  the  rear  gallery  spanning  this  stage  were 
himg  tapestries  to  shield  the  space  behind,  which 
might  be  used  as  a  dressing-room.  The  gallery  was 
for  the  use  of  actors  and  stage  service.  Its  elevation 
served  as  an  upper  room,  a  balcony,  a  beetling  cliff, 
or  the  drawbridge  of  some  besieged  castle  to  be 
valiantly  defended.  This "  stage  was  considered  so 
spacious  that  spectators  could  hire  stools  and  sit  at 
the  right  or  left,  viewing  the  play  and  players  at 
close  range. 

This  severely  simple  platform,  minus  scenery  or 

14 


furnishing,  save  the 
arras  at  the  back  and 
its  quaking  balcony, 
had  of  necessity  t< 
represent  all  the  se- 
quence of  places  that 
the  imaginative  play- 
wright could  demand. 
This  poverty  of  re- 
source may  have  pro- 

1       J      .,  J       .„     4.-    *-  DRESS  CIRCLE    PROMENADE 

voked  the  dramatist 

and  plagued  the  actors.  Yet  the  inadequacy  and 
provoking  plainness  appeared  to  be  acceptable  to  the 
majority  of  the  uncritical  spectators  in  the  golden 
Elizabethan  age.  This  condition  of  simplicity  was 
not,  however,  relished  by  all  the  patrons  of  the 
playhouse.  The  censorious  Sidney,  familiar  with 
better  conditions  on  the  stage  of  Italy,  protested 
against  the  stage  on  which  the  scene  would  seem 
to  change  continually,  simply  because  there  was  no 
scenery  to  be  changed.  Sidney  wrote  of  it  as  he  saw 
it:  "The  player,  when  he  comes  in,  must  either 
begin  with  telling  where  he  is,  or  else  the  tale  will 
not  be  conceived.  Now  shall  you  have  three  ladies 
walk  to  gather  flowers,  and  then  we  must  believe  the 
stage  to  be  a  garden.  By  and  by  we  hear  the  news 
of  a  shipwreck  in  the  same  place  ;  then,  we  are  to 
blame  if  we  accept  it  not  for  a  rock.  Upon  the  back 
of  that  comes  a  hideous  monster  with  fire  and 
smoke ;  and  the  miserable  beholders  are  bound  to 
take  it  for  a  cave ;  while  in  the  meantime  two 
armies   fly   in,    represented    with    four    swords   and 

16 


bucklers,  and  then  what  hard  heart  will  not  receive 
it  for  a  pitched  field." 

The  undertakings  advanced  by  ihe  heroism  of  the 
poor  persecuted  pla}^ers  in  the  elder  day  of  the  Eng- 
lish drama,  the  practical  and  progressive  managers 
have  improved  and  perpetuated  and  the  modern 
architects  have  beautified.  During  the  past  decade 
theatrical  architecture  has  made  wonderful  advance 
in  this  country.  Inconsiderate  travelers  may  remark, 
in  contrast  to  local  achievement,  the  Grand  Opera  of 
Paris,  the  Royal  Opera  of  Vienna,  or  the  wonderful 
stages  of  Bayreuth  or  Budapest,  overlooking  the 
pertinent  fact  that  such  structures  are  subvented 
institutions  under  governmental  jurisdiction  or  royal 
patronage,  while  all  the  opera  houses  and  theatres 
in  America  are  private  enterprises,  and,  generally 
speaking,  provide  better  entertainments  and  far 
better  accommodations  for  the  public  than  the  most 
pretentious  of  the  famous  foreign  opera  houses. 

The  American  public  now,  more  than  ever  before, 
demand  elegance  of  environment  for  their  amuse- 
ments, as  well  as  provisions  for  comfort  and  security  ; 
yet  the  opportunity  for  architectural  compliance  with 
these  exactions  is  restricted  by  reason  of  the  enormous 
land  values  in  the  heart  of  great  centers  of  civiliza- 
tion, the  most  advantageous  locations  for   theatres. 

The  latest  and  most  noticeable  achievements  in 
theatrical  construction,  not  reckoning  the  cost  to 
secure  the  finest  results,  are  significant  in  the  re- 
cherche New  Amsterdam  Theatre  in  New  York,  the 
finest  concrete  example  of  L'  Art  Nouveau  in  the 
world;  the  beautiful  Nixon  Theatre,  now  approaching 


MR.  WILL  J.   DAViS 


completion  in  Pittsburg-,  and  last  but  not  least,  the 
Iroquois  in  Chicago,  the  finest  and  most  complete 
of  its  many  modern  houses  devoted  to  the  drama. 

The  desirable  site  chosen  for  the  Iroquois  is 
close  to  that  associated  with  the  very  beginning  of 
things  theatrical  in  this  municipality  nearly  sixty 
years  ago.  It  is  located  within  "  The  Loop,"  is  more 
readily  accessible  from  traction  and  railway  lines 
than  any  other  Chicago  theatre,  and  has  a  frontage 
on  three  thoroughfares,  with  many  avenues  for  exit. 
The  practical  part  of  its  promotion  as  an  elegant 
edifice  as  w' ell  as  a  perfect  theatre  show  the  result  of 
skill  added  to  good  judgment  in  unstinted  financial 
outlay,  with  a  determination  to  secure  the  best  as 
befitting  such  an  important  artistic  adventure.  Every 
penny  of  the  large  expenditure  represented  in  the 
Iroquois  was  made  in  the  theatrical  business.  Mr. 
Will  J.  Davis  and  Mr.  Harry  J.  Pow^ers,  as  the  result 
of  ripe  experience,  understood  exactly  what  was 
needed.  The  judicious  character  of  their  invest- 
ment is  unquestionable  and  the  artistic  addition  to  the 
city  most  advantageous.  Associated  with  the  Chicago 
managers  are  Messrs.  Klaw  and  Erlanger  of  New 
York,  and  Messrs.  Nixon  and  Zimmerman  of  Phila- 
delphia, both  firms  being  large  producers  as  well. 

The  George  A.  Fuller  Company  is  second  to  none 
in  handling  building  enterprises  of  magnitude,  and 
in  carrying  them  to  completion  in  spite  of  all  ob- 
stacles that  the  uncertain  temper  of  the  times  may 
impose.  It  may  be  recalled  that  this  corporation 
carried  the  Illinois  Theatre  to  completion  under  con- 
ditions that  seemed  prohibitive,  and  has  been  equally 

18 


MR.   HARRY  J.  POWERS 


successful  in  completing"  the  Iroquois  at  a  time  when 
other  builders  have  been  seriously  delayed  or  entirely 
abandoned  constructions,  discouraged  by  the  attitude 
of  labor  and  contract  conditions. 

Mr.  Benjamin  H.  Marshall,  the  architect,  has 
shown  admirable  capability  as  a  modern  theatre 
builder,  and  in  this  instance  has  again  given  Chicago 
its  most  beautiful  temple  of  the  drama.  The  Illinois 
Theatre  was  the  first  monumental  structure  of  the 
kind  in  Chicago,  and  the  Iroquois  is  a  surpassing 
second,  as  the  entire  building  is  devoted  to  theatrical 
purposes. 

The  Iroquois  presents  the  most  imposing  and 
attractive  fagade  to  be  seen  in  this  city  of  modern 
structures,  and  will  impress  even  the  most  superficial 
observer  by  its  beauty  and  grandeur.  The  style, 
architecturally,  is  French  renaissance,  which  has  a 
strong  suggestion  of  the  classic.  This  mingling  of  the 
heroic  and  lighter  lines  is  artistically  adroit,  and  the 
result  very  satisfactory.  The  Randolph  Street  front 
is  of  Bedford  stone  deeply  recessed  (sixty  feet  wide 
and  eighty  feet  high),  the  admirable  proportion  and 
architectural  treatment  making  it  appear  larger  than 
it  really  is.  The  central  feature  is  a  deep  French 
coved  arch  thirty-five  feet  in  width  and  fifty-two 
feet  high,  flanked  on  either  side  by  stone  columns 
four  feet  in  diameter  and  thirty-eight  feet  high, 
weighing  thirty-six  tons  each.  Next  to  these  in  cor- 
rect architectural  spacing  is  an  engaged  pilaster 
four  feet  wide  that  returns  back  of  the  columns, 
acting  in  double  function.     The  front  view  gives  the 

impress  of  double  free  columns  on  either  side  of  the 

to 


arch,  adding  grace  and  strength  to  the  uplift  of  the 
edifice.  These  columns  and  pilasters  rest  upon  a 
mammoth  pedestal  of  St.  Cloud  granite  sixteen 
feet  square.  The  width  of  these  bases  will  serve  as 
bulletins  of  attractions,  for  which  a  space  five  feet 


square  is  recessed  and  framed  in  carved  leaves  of 
laurel,  the  top  center  being  a  rich  cartouche.  The 
columns  and  pilasters  are  surmounted  by  a  cornice 
nine  feet  high,  running  across  the  entire  front  from 
pilaster  to  pilaster,  breaking  back  to  the  face  of  the 


MR.  J    FRf  D. 
ZIMMERMAN 


MR.   SAMUEL  F. 
NIXON 


MANAGER'S  PRIVATE  OFFICE 


arch  at  the  top  of  either 
column.  These  returns 
are  sustained  by  elabo- 
rately carved  massive 
brackets  of  French 
pattern.  The  upward 
continuation  of  the  cor- 
nice forms  a  pediment 
or  gable,  the  apex  of 
which  is  seventy-five 
feet  above  the  pavement.  Above  its  crown  moulding 
is  a  parapet.  Surmounting  the  center  as  a  terminal 
is  a  monolith  of  stone  twelve  feet  wide  and  fifteen 
feet  high.  The  massive  character  of  the  masonry 
will  be  appreciated  when  it  is  stated  that  this  upper 
wall  is  fourteen  feet  thick. 

The  ornamentation  of  the  pediment  is  emble- 
matic, showing  the  semi-recumbent  figure  of  a  woman 
heroic  in  size,  representing  Traged)',  and  the  figure 
of  a  jester,  typifying  Comedy.  They  support  a  richly 
carved  cartouche  as  the  central  ornament. 

The  sculptors  of  this  large  group  are  Beil  and 
Mauch,  and  the  carver,  Joseph  Dux.  The  figures  are 
cut  out  of  the  solid  stone  projection,  the  relief  being 
3^  feet  from  the  face  of  the  pediment.  The  size  of 
these  sculptures  may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  the 
ornamental  head  forming  the  keystone  of  the  arch 
ten  feet  below  them  is  3^{>  x  4  feet. 

Springing  up  within  the  arched  entrance  are  a 
pair  of  stone  pilasters  thirty-four  feet  high,  support- 
ing a  cornice  spanning  the  arch  at  the  beginning 
of  the  curve.      The  upper  members  of  this  gable  are 

23 


cut  out  as  a  broken  pediment,  allowing  space  for  the 
sculptured  bust  of  a  noble  Iroquois  that  Mr.  Davis 
selected  as  typical  from  his  large  library  Americana. 
Back  of  this  arch  is  an  elaborate  screen  of  orna- 
mental iron  work  (in  which  the  Winslow  Brothers 
have  fairly  outdone  the  Germans  in  their  handicraft). 
This  screen  is  set  with  heavy  plate  and  jewel  glass, 
giving  light  and  airiness  to  the  inner  lobby  and 
outer  front.  Five  pairs  of  wide  mahogany  doors 
with  glass  panels  give  entrance  to  a  vestibule  20x40 
feet,  with  an  eighteen-foot  ceiling  beamed  and  pan- 
eled with  marble.  This  is  elliptical  in  shape,  allow- 
ing room  for  ticket  and  other  offices  on  either  side, 
their  windows  being  an  attractive  feature  of  the 
otherwise  plain  solid  construction.  At  the  east  end 
ornamental  iron  stairs  lead  to  the  business  offices  of 
the  house  and  to  the  third  floor  above,  the  manager's 
private  office.  A  second  series  of  swinging  doors 
admit  to  a  foyer  truly  palatial  (sixty  feet  wide  and 
eighty  feet  long),  with  a  colonnade  of  pavonazzo 
pillars  carrying  the  ceiling  upon  groined  arches  sixty 
feet  above  the  tessellated  floor.  It  is- by  far  the  most 
majestic  interior  in  this  city  or  in  this  country, 
rivaling  many  vistas  to  be  seen  in  the  Congressional 
Library  in  Washington.  In  the  dignity  of  its  dec- 
orative disposition  it  siiggests  some  kinship  with  the 
latter  noble  structure;  but  its  lines  are  lighter,  its 
treatment  not  so  severely  studied,  while  its  originality 
is  worthy  of  the  highest  praise. 

A  point  worthy  of  remark  is  that  the  foyer  of  this 
house  is  not  only  in  itself  wonderfully  impressive 
and  attractive,  but  its  relation  to  the  auditorium  is 


VIEW  OF  FOYER  FROM   DRESS  CIRCLE 


singularly  harmo- 
nious  and    effective. 

All  parts  of  the  house 

are    open    from    this 

noble,  lofty  room  of 

entrance,  and  in  turn 

it  is  intimately  close 

to  the  great  audience 

room  —  the  architect 

has  turned  the  trick 

of  the  angle  to  per- 
fection.    To  see  and 

be  seen  is  the  duality 

of    advantage    presented    for    the    patrons    of    the 

Iroquois. 

The  colonnade  of  tinted  marble  pillars  on  white 
marble  bases  sentinel  the  sides  of  the  foyer,  and 
mark  the  landings  along  the  graceful  lines  of  the 
grand  staircases  rising  along  the  wall  of  the  outer 
courts.  These  broad,  easy  ascents  have  five  landings 
opening  upon  balconies  that  project  between  the 
columns,  the  ornamental  iron  filagree  supporting 
graceful  candelabra  used  as  electroliers.  The  wall 
dado,  as  well  as  the  wall  itself,  is  of  white  marble, 
while  high  up  along  the  line  of  the  second  story  is  a 
succession  of  arched  French  windows  ornate  with 
graceful  little  balconies.  The  draping  of  these  win- 
dows show  rich  oriental  colors,  and  their  frames  are 
set  with  plate  mirrors  which  add  to  the  brilliancy  of 
the  decorative  detail  and  magnify  the  spaciousness 
of   the   interior.     Pendant   from   the   bosses   of   the 

groined  arches  are  Etruscan  crystal  bowl  lamps,  giv- 

as 


ing;  soft  light  to  the  stairs  and  the  plastic  beauties  of 
the  ceiling.  Deeply  tufted  settees,  upholstered  in  fine 
fabrics,  are  in  every  embrasure  along  the  walls  of  the 
foyer  and  highway  of  the  stairs,  giving  a  fine  color 
note  to  the  marble  walls,  the  delicate  veining  of  the 
pavonazzo  pillars,  and  the  decorations  of  the  coves 
and  arches.  The  line  of  these  staircases  leading  to 
the  dress  circle  and  balcony  is  fascinating  in  its 
formation,  framing  the  pillars  of  the  inner  court, 
whose  Capitols  sustain  an  elaborate  cornice  and  a 
number  of  heavily  recessed  arches  along  the  balcony 
promenade.  In  turn  these  lead  to  ornate  beaming 
around  a  skylight,  20x40  feet,  of  delicately  tinted 
glass  in  cloud  forms,  studded  with  jewels,  giving  the 
effect  (from  concealed  lights)  of  stars  in  the  changing 
clouded  sky. 

The  ladies'  parlors  and  check  rooms  are  at  the 
center  of  the  foyer  to  the  left,  and  opposite  are  siin- 
ilar  conveniences  for  gentlemen.  These  rooms  sink 
under  the  broad  staircases  clear  of  the  foyer.  Below 
stairs  on  the  right  is  a  gentlemen's  smoking  room 
fitted  up  with  special  reference  to  its  use.  The  whole 
effect  of  this  foyer  is  delightful  in  detail  and  striking 
in  its  dazzling  ensemble. 

There  are  a  number  of  interesting  innovations  in 
the  construction  of  this  building  that  will  never  be 
seen  by  the  public.  There  are  no  obstructing  pillars 
in  the  body  of  the  house  to  interfere  with  the  fine  lines 
of  sight.  The  dress  circle  and  balcony  are  carried  upon 
cantilevers  that  upon  an  eight-foot  anchorage  carry 
an  overhand  of  twenty-six  feet,  the  enormous  roof 
trusses  on  the  rear  wall  holding  down  the  cantilevers. 

26 


Glass -paneled  . 

doors,  swinging  be- 
tween the  arches  on 
the  north  of  the  foyer, 
lead  to  the  parquette; 
a  similar  entrance  for 
the  dress  circle  is 
directly  above,  and 
that  for  the  balcony 
on  the  third  floor,  all 

parts    of    the    house,  vestibule 

being  accessible  from  the  grand  foyer.  As  for 
exits,  they  are  far  more  numerous,  the  entire  north 
frontage  being  available  for  such  service  in  case 
of  emergency.  Another  large  emergency  exit  leads 
across  the  stage  to  Dearborn  Street  from  the  passage- 
way and  doors  behind  the  boxes  on  the  south  side  of 
the  auditorium  proper.  The  directness  of  entrance 
and  the  availabilit}'  of  exits  are  a  praiseworthy  fea- 
ture of  this  admirabl}-  planned  house  of  amusement. 

The  great  audience  room  is  attractive  in  its 
arrangement,  spaciousness,  and  decoration.  It  is 
wide,  compared  with  its  depth  (ninety  feet  wide  by 
seventy-one  feet  in  depth),  this  shell  shape  giving 
direct  lines  of  sight  and  aiding  the  excellence  of 
acoustics,  so  that  the  stage  entertainment  can  be 
thoroughly  enjoyed  by  every  spectator. 

The  aisles  are  wide  and  the  distance  between  the 
rows  of  chairs  is  two  inches  more  than  ordinary. 
The  latest  and  best  systems  of  heating  and  venti- 
lation have  been  installed,  so  that  the  pure-air  prob- 
lem has  been  successfully  solved.     A  series  of  col- 

37 


umns  seven  feet  from  the  rear  wall  of  the  lower  floor 
follow  the  curve  of  the  rear  row  of  seats  supporting 
the  unseen  cantilevers,  adding  grace  to  the  structure 
by  carrying  a  series  of  attractive  electroliers.  The 
dress  circle  sweeps  in  a  flat  curve  so  high  above  the 
parquette  that  the  top  of  the  proscenium  arch  can 
be  seen  from  every  seat. 

There  are  744  seats  in  the  parquette,  not  counting 
the  box  seats,  numbering  24,  one  of  the  largest  lower 
floor  capacities  in  the  city.  The  dress  circle  has  465 
seats,  with  two  upper  boxes  accommodating  16  ;  and 
the  balcony  has  seatings  for  475,  making  a  total  of 
1,724  chairs,  with  plenty  of  good  standing  room  on 
each  floor. 

The  ceiling  under  the  dress  circle  is  effectively 
treated  in  a  decorative  way  with  elliptical  panels, 
delicately  defined,  giving  the  effect  of  a  Titanic  fan 
spread  open.  The  paneling  of  the  walls  is  in  French 
style  and  the  color  scheme  of  the  house  is  American 
Beauty  red,  opulent  in  association  with  neutral  tints 
of  green  and  gold  used  on  the  plastic  details.  Around 
the  house  on  all  floors  is  a  wainscot  six  feet  high,  of 
curly  Hungarian  ash. 

Over  the  proscenium  is  a  sounding  board  twenty 
feet  wide,  its  Rococo  paneling  giving  the  key  to  all 
the  ornamentation  about  the  frame  of  the  stage, 
involving  the  order  of  its  proscenium  boxes.  The 
line  of  the  elliptical  proscenium  arch  is  ornate  with 
wreath  of  laurel  leaves;  the  opening  is  forty-one  feet 
wide  and  thirty-six  feet  high.  The  orchestra  pit 
is  spacious,  with  ample  room  for  forty  instrumental- 
ists.     The   projection   in   front  of   the  footlights  is 


convexed  and  decorated  in  conformity  with  the  pre- 
vailing style  of  the  house. 

In  the  rear  of  the  boxes  there  is  ample  space, 
which  will  allow  plenty  of  room  for  comfortably  dis- 
posing- of  wraps,  bonnets,  hats,  and  such  other  wear- 
ing apparel  as  patrons  may  desire  to  discard  before 
entering  the  boxes. 

The  plan  of  the  decorations  in  the  Iroquois  is  one 
full  of  variety  in  design  and  color  and  more  sumptu- 
ous than  anything  hitherto  attempted  in  a  Chicago 
theatre. 

The  walls  of  the  vestibule  are  of  white  marble, 
with  a  subtle  treatment  of  antique  gold  in  the  ceil- 
ing, leaving  the  total  effect  very  rich  yet  quiet. 

As  you  enter  the  foyer,  the  effect  is  in  rich  con- 
trast to  the  vestibule.  The  walls  are  of  white  mar- 
ble, with  pavonazzo  columns.  Around  the  mirror 
panels  on  both  sides  of  the  flanking  stairways  is  a 
welcome  velvety  red.  The  draperies  and  furnishings 
in  a  deeper  tone  of  this  same  color  are  important 
notes  of  the  decorative  scheme. 

The  foyer  ceilings  and  domes  in  the  richest  col- 
ors of  green  and  rose  tints  of  the  French  Renaissance 
style,  liberally  elaborated  with  gold,  add  brilliancy 
and  crispness  to  the  general  tone  of  this  beautiful 
harmony. 

The  color  scheme  of  the  auditorium  is  as  beautiful 
as  it  is  appropriate.  The  colors  are  quiet  and  neu- 
tral greens  on  the  ceilings  and  a  rich  red  on  walls 
and  wdth  gold  in  the  boxes  and  draperies. 

The  colors  of  the  proscenium  arch  and  entabla- 
tures  of   boxes   are    soft    green    and    silver    gray. 

30 


LADIES"  BOUDOIR 


All  constructional 
parts  have  the  color 
of  French  statuary 
bronze  and  verdigris, 
elaborated  with  ivory 
tones. 

The  auditorium 
ceiling  is  a  well- 
blended  sky  effect  done  in  soft  greens,  cerulean 
blues,  and  mauves,  with  clouds  in  grays  and  pearl 
tints. 

All  the  coves  are  finished  in  Sienna. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  facings  of  the  boxes, 
dress  circle,  and  balcony  are  in  keeping  with  the 
colorings  in  the  great  sounding  board  over  the  pros- 
cenium arch. 

This  color  scheme,  with  the  deep  rich  red  of  the 
walls  back  of  the  seats  in  tone  with  the  warm  tones 
of  the  pavonazzo  marble,  combine  to  make  this  inte- 
rior a  triumph  of  elegance  in  decoration. 

The  designing  and  decorating  of  the  Iroquois 
Theatre  throughout  is  the  work  of  the  W.  P.  Nelson 
Company,  an  old-established  Chicago  firm,  who  also 
did  Powers'  Theatre,  this  city,  the  New  Amsterdam 
Theatre  of  New  York  City,  which  has  attracted 
much  attention  on  account  of  its  striking  originality 
of  design  and  coloring,  and  the  new  Nixoii  Theatre 
in  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  now  nearing  completion. 

Mr.  St.  John  Lewis  has  provided  two  exquisitely 
painted  curtains,  unique  in  their  significance.  The 
asbestos,  or  fireproof  curtain,  shows  a  summer  scene 
on  the  Mohawk  River,  made  from  a  sketch  by  the 

31 


artist  himself,  from  which,  however,  he  has  eliminated 
every  semblance  of  modern  civilization,  with  the 
view  of  illustrating  the  historic  v^alley  as  it  might 
have  appeared  150  years  ago,  when  its  banks  were 
peopled  with  the  Iroquois  Indians  only.  -The  picture 
is  in  the  artist's  best  style,  and  was  suggested  by  the 
following  verse  by  Mrs.  Lydia  H.  Sigourney  : 

"  Ye  say  their  cone-like  cabins 

That  clustered  o'er  the  vale 
Have  disappeared  as  withered  leaves 

Before  the  autumn  gale  ; 
But  their  memory  liveth  on  your  hills, 

Their  baptism  on  your  shore  ; 
Your  ever-rolling  rivers  speak 

Their  dialect  of  yore." 

The  act  drop  is  a  study  rich  and  mellow  in  atitum- 
nal  tints.  It  is  a  landscape  also,  and  treated  in  Mr. 
Lewis'  best  style,  intended  to  illustrate  the  following 
lines  by  Greer : 

"  October,  tinting  the  summer  skies, 
Had  ranged  on  a  scaffold  of  mist 
His  gold,  and  crimson,  and  purple  dyes. 
And  russet  and  amethj'st." 

The  plush  curtain,  which  is  of  rich  velvet  of  a 
beautiful  red  to  harmonize  with  the  color  of  the 
auditorium,  is  ornamented  with  a  portrait  of  Sagoya- 
wata,  or  Red  Jacket,  a  chief  of  the  Senecas,  and  later 
the  most  celebrated  chief  in  all  the  tribes  in  that  con- 
federacy of  Indians  known  as  the  Six  Nations,  or 
Iroquois,  after  which  the  theatre  is  named.  This 
curtain  was  made  and  ornamented  b)^  Marshall 
Field  &  Co.,  who  also  furnish  the  draperies. 

The  stage  of  the  Iroquois  Theatre  is  spacious, 
modern,  and   perfectl)'  appointed,  with    a   depth   of 

33 


fifty-three  feet  and  a  width  of  i  lo  feet.  The  rijcging- 
loft  is  seventy-six  feet  from  the  stage  floor  and  is 
believed  to  be  the  best  constructed  ever  placed  in  a 
theatre.  The  full  width  of  the  stage  corresponding 
with  the  proscenium  opening  is  entirely  clear  under- 
neath, and  of  sufficient  depth  to  give  working  space 
for  the  most  elaborate  and  pretentious  of  stage 
productions  of  every  description.     There  are  two  fly 


PROSCENIUM  AND   BOXES 


galleries  on  either  side  of  the  stage,  all  of  steel  con- 
struction, and  a  steel  paint  bridge  on  the  rear  wall 
unites  these  upper  galleries. 

There  are  thirty-six  dressing  rooms,  all  large  and 
comfortably  furnished,  and  most  of  these  above  and 
on  the  south  side  of  the  stage.  They  are  readilv 
reached  by  broad,  easy  stairs,  and,  wonder  of  wonders, 
have  an  elevator  that  works  at  every  performance 
instead  of  merely  lifting  baggage  at  the  beginning 
and  conclusion  of  an  engagement.     The  supernum- 


cranes  have  large  rooms  in  a  separate  part  oi  Liie 
basement.  Adequate  accommodation  for  the  per- 
formers is  unusual,  but  Mr.  Davis,  who  inaugurated 
drastic  reform  in  dressing-rooms  in  the  building  of 
the  Ha3'market,  has  elaborated  on  his  original  ideas 
for  comfort  in  the  Trocpiois. 


»  L 


$  o 


<  u. 
O  O 


From  Sauganash  to  Iroquois 

•  ■I)ui  ^'J  Europe; 


English 


III  -^Tlie  J- 

McKenii,:y  uH'f  jduin  nan,  •  ■ 

TwoMhirds  of  a  Century  in  the 
Theatrical  History  of   Chicago 


By  Edward  Freiber 


III 


;Uir.t..s  \v.. 


curtain 


were  few  and 
eJue  liuu  muunl;;-;iii   :uy,lii,  wiicn  the   ice 
■  /,■  <.r  Chicu'^'i  tunied  Miit  f . >r  a  skate  and  a  i 

t  hundred 


persons  on  the  river  between  Wells  Street  and  the  forks. 
Just  imagine,  one  hundred  persons  the  "  whole  of  Chicago  ! '' 
Remember,  please,  that  the  village  was  not  inviting  to  settlers. 
As  recently  as  1S23,  twenty  years  after  the  lirst  house  was 
built  by  John  Kinzie,  Major  Long  and  partj'  had  visited  Chi- 
cago on  their  way  to  the  St.  Peter's  River,  and  in  the  narra- 
tive of  the  expedition,  Mr.  Keating,  the  writer,  saj-s  :  "We 
were  mnch  disappointed  in  Chicago  and  its  vicinitv.  The 
village  presents  no  cheering  prospects,  as  notwithstanding  its 
antiquit)-,  it  consists  of  but  few  huts,  inhabited  by  a  miserable 
race  of  men,  scarcely  equal  to  the  Indians  from  whom  thev  are 
descended.  Tlicir  Iol;-  houses  are  low,  iilthj-,  and  disgusting, 
displaying  ii  ast  comfort.     As  a  place  of  business  ii 

offers  no  inducement  to  the  settler  ;  for  the  whole  amount  of 
trade  on  the  lake  did  not  exceed  the  cargo  of  five  or  six 
schooners,  even  when  the  garrison  received  its  supplies  from 
ilackinaw." 

Still  the  village  progressed,  and  in  the  year  1833,  during 
which  there  were  but  four  arrivals  of  lake  craft,  it' organized 
a  debating  society  with  Gen.  Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien  as  presi- 
dent, and  soon  thereafter  came  the  first  public  entertainment 
to  which  an  admission  fee  was  charged.  The  C/u'cai^o  Detno- 
crat  of  Tuesday,  February  iS,  1834,  printed  the  following 
advertisement,  the  first  ever  published  in  Chicago  in  the  inter- 
ests of  amusements : 

Erxhibition 

Joy  lia/h  i/s  limits.  We  hut  borrow 
Oiit>  hour  of  mirth  from  months  a 

The  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  Chicago  are  most  respectfully  informed 
that  Mr.  Bowers,  Professor  de  tours  Amusant,  has  arrived  in  to\vn,  and 
will  give  an  Exhibition  at  the  hcim  'if  >[r.  D.  Graves,  on  Monday  even- 
ing next. 

Part  First 

Mr.  Bowers  will  fully  personate  Monsieur  Chunhert,  the  celebrated 
J^ire  King-,  who  so  much  astonished  the  people  of  Europe,  and  so  thro' 
his  wonderful  Chemical  Performance.  He  will  draw  a  red  hot  iron 
acro.ss  his  tongue,  hands,  etc.,  and  will  partake  of  a  comfortable  warm 
supper  by  eating  fire  balls,  burning  .sealing  wax,  live  coals  of  fire,  melted 
lead.  He  will  dip  his  fingers  in  melted  lead,  and  make  use  of  a  red  hot 
spoon  to  convey  the  same  to  his  mouth. 

3« 


Part  Second 

..1  .,■..-  ^  n  will  introduce  many  amusinj^  feats  of  /  enlriloqiiism  aiui 
Legerdemain^  many  of  which  are  original,  and  too  numerous  to  mention. 
Admittance  50  cents,  children  half  price. 

Performance  to  commence  at  early  candle  li.sjht.  Seats  will  be 
reserved  for  Ladies,  and  every  attention  paid  to  the  comfort  and  con- 
venience of  the  spectators.    Tickets  to  be  had  at  the  bar. 

The  home  of  Mr.  D.  Graves,  referred  to,  was  the  IMansicjn 
House,  at  No.  SS  Lake  Street,  owned  by  Dexter  Graves. 

Enter  the  pioneer  of  local  dramatic  critics.  The  first  criti- 
cism of  a  public  performance  of  any  kind  ever  published  in  a 
Chicago  newspaper  was  the  following  editorial  paragraph  in 
the  Democrat  of  Wednesday,  June  11,  1834: 

"We  were  truly  delighted  last  evening  with  the  performance  oi 
Mr.  Kenworthy.  He  is  certainly  an  accomplished  Ventriloquist,  and  is 
entitled  to  the  support  of  those  who  feel  interested  in  a  display  of  nature's 
gifts.  In  his  'Brombach  family,'  he  represents  seven  perfectly  distinct 
characters,  and  carries  them  all  through  to  admiration.  He  performs 
many  other  very  interesting  feats.  It  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  his 
notice  in  another  column,  that  he  raa.y  be  found  for  the  last  time  at 
Brombach  Hall'  this  evening.  This  opportunity  will  not  be  lost  by 
those  who  have  an  interest  in  exhibitions  of  the  kind." 

Remember  that  this  was-onh-  a  few  months  after  the  Potta- 
watumies  had  given  up  their  lands  to  the  white  man.  Chicago 
was  beginning  to  make  history.  On  June  19.  1834.  C.  Blisse 
gave  a  concert,  and  then  came  the  usual  small,  very  small, 
circus  with  the  still  smaller  side  show.  In  the  spring  of  1S35, 
when  Hour  was  selling  for  $28  a  barrel,  Uncle  Sam  gave  Chi- 
cago a  postoffice.  And  then,  on  June  iS,  1835,  came  "a  nov- 
elty in  Chicago."  This  was  the  first  fair,  held  bj-  "the  ladies 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  this  town."  The  town 
was  growing,  and  it  required  onh-  "five  days  by  daj-light 
to  go  by  coach  to  St.  Louis."  The  population  had  grown 
on  December  g,  1835,  to  3,279.  The  town  had  forty-four  stores, 
four  druggists,  two  breweries,  one  iron  foundry,  eight  taverns, 
one  lottery  office,  one  bank,  five  churches,  seven  schools, 
twenty-two  lawyers,  fourteen  dbctors,  a  lyceum,  and  a  reading 
i-oom.  But  actors,  dramatic  critics,  and  press  agents  were 
conspicuous  by  their  absence.  Amusements  were  at  a  stand- 
still until  the  Chicago  Harmonic  Society  gave  its  fix'st  concert 
at   the    Presb^-terian  Church,  Friday  evening,  December   11. 

39 


George  A.  Fuller 
Company 

Guilders 


Chicago  New  York 

Boston 
Philadelphia 
Pittsburg 
Baltimore 
Washington 

Albany  St.  Louis 


i-^35.  iit  (1. 3u  o'clock,  iiucl  another  Friday,  Janua: 
celebrate  the  opening  of  a  new  line  of  mail  coaches 

Chic;'';''"  ''"il   l).'tv,,it     \\-liii-li  i\-c>nt   tuol,-    nlaic  Taniiarx    i 

The:  vicinity, 

for  J-  -i.,  the  tV).  "'I'- 

li<"^.  -.I'M-.  :ni;  "-'cn 

1  Lake  Mich- 

i"a;i  •■ere 

,.,,■'.  '.or 

pr.,,"  -.L  ih  nut  sur- 

i:,i>  :t''rs"  in  this 

i  uestrian 
:'  ( tcl'jber  '.'1  ,i  ^3'-',  the  single 
'os.   1-2.   ly.j,  aiT"!   i7''i  T.alTL' 


ailnr  b'- 


l-'JllK-lU 

■vv  thcir 


l    l:l'.-  nu-,7]ii!- 

vtv-t;\vn  silver 

■:uit 

"LL-ll    llSCll     ]]]    liiis, 

I'l  pa\'  him  ^iiT.  in 


jicross  Three 
Mountain  TKjxnges 


EN   ROUTE  TO  TEXAS 
THE 


FRISCO 

SYSTEM 


TRAVERSES 


The  OzarkSs  The  Kiamichi 
and  the  'Boston  J\Iountains 


MAGNIFICENT  SCENERY.  WHICH  CAN 
BE  COMPLETELY  INSPECTED  FROM 
THE  LIBRARY-OBSERVATION  SLEEPERS 
OPERATED  BETWEEN  ST.  LOUIS  AND 
SAN   ANTONIO    aeaeaaaa^a 

Write  for  Copy  of  Illustrated  Book  entitled 
"THE    TRISCO    MAGAZINE" 


F.  C.  REILLY  A.  HILTON 

General  Agent  General  Passenger  Agent 

332  Marquette  Bldg.,  Chicago  St.  Louis.  Mo. 


thf  authorities  to  make  the  license  payable  weekly,  but  the 

i-equest  was  denied,  the  Council  naming  i$ioo  as  the  amount. 

Evidently  this  was  too  much  for  them  to  pay,  for  they  left  the 

city  without  giving  a  performance.     Mr.  Edwin  Dean  was  the 

father  of  the  famous  actress,  Miss  Julia  Dean.     ]Mr.  McKinney 

had  been  a  po^jular  actor  at  the  Bowery  Theatre,  New  York, 

ill  1S35.     He  afterward  became  the  first  manager  of  the  Eagle 

.Street  Theatre  in  Buffalo,  New  York. 

Now  listen  to  the  overture  to  the  first  performance  of  a  play 

in  Chicago.     The  first  petition  that  met  with  the  favor  of  the 

young  city  was  the  following  : 

'•  Chicago,  October  17,  1837.  The  subscribers  respectfully  petition 
the  Honorable  the  Mayor  and  Council  ot"  the  City  of  Chicago  for  a 
license  to  perform  plays  in  said  city.  They  respectfullj-  represent  that 
this  establishment  is  intended  toaflford  in.struction  as  well  as  amusement; 
that  they  are  encouraged  and  patronized  by  the  leading  portion  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  city,  who  are  interested  in  tlieir  success;  that  they 
propose  to  remain  here  during  the  winter,  and  that  they  make  no  calcula- 
tion to  receive  more  money  in  the  city  than  what  they  will  expend  during 
their  stay,  and,  therefore,  they  trust  that  in  offering  a  rate  for  license 
these  facts  may  be  taken  into  consideration.  Isherwood  &  AlcKenzie 
the  petitioners,  request  this  license  for  six  months,  if  agreeable  to  the 
Hoard." 

The  Council  fixed  the  license  at  $125  for  the  year,  and, 
while  the  petitioners  protested  that  it  was  too  much,  thev 
paid  it.* 

As  the  last  two  theatres  to  be  opened  in  Chicago  proudly 
bear  Indian  names  —  Illinois  and  Iroquois  —  so  the  first  home 
of  the  drama  in  this  citjr  likewise  bore  an  Indian  name,  that  of 
Sauganash.  The  first  plaj''  presented  in  Chicago  was  given  in 
the  dining-room  of  the  deserted  Sauganash  Hotel,  which  stood 
on  a  bit  of  ground  that  is  now  doubly  historical,  for  on  the  same 
spot  there  was  erected,  in  1S60,  the  famous"  Wigwam,"  which 
was  burned  in  the  great  fire  of  October  9,  1S71,  and  in  which 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  first  nominated  for  the  presidencv,  on 
May  iS,  1S60.     One  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  earh 

*  A  statement  has  been  published  in  New  York  that  the  first  dramatic 
performance  ever  given  in  Chicago  took  place  on  September  lo,  1837,  Airs. 
Hester  Jefferson  MacKenzie  appearing  as  Helen,  in  "The  Hunchback.'' 
.\s  managers  were  not  allowed  to  play  without  licenses,  and  as  none 

\\  ;i-    ssued  until  October  17,  1837,  the  statement  is  certainly  incorrect. 

4  3 


WP.NELJON  COMPAW 
DECORATORS  £> 

-^OHE   decora-        Ut^lvJlNtrO 

^;^°S5'^o';j  OF  BEAUTIFUL 

is  an  example  of       TXITP  D  TOD  ^ 
our  Work;  also        ll>i    1  l-»  rVj.  V-/ IN^ 

that  of  POWERS' 

THEATRE  in  Chicago,  the  NEW  YORK 

THEATRE  and  th-  NEW  AMSTERDAM 

of  JVeW    Yorii   City   M   The   latter,  just 

recently  opened  to  the  public,  has  attracted 

much  attention  on  account  of  its  striking 

originality  of  design  and  coloring  JS  JS  The 

interior  of  the  NEW  NIXON  THEATRE 

of  "Pittsburg,  noto  under  construction,  Will 

shortly  be  completed  by  us  M   Correspond 

dence  solicited  With  architects  and  owners 

about  decorations  of  all  descriptions  JS  J& 


NEW    YORK    and    CHICAGO 


w  as  Mark  Beaubien,  a  brother  of  General  Beaubieii,  who  erected 
;i  log  house  on  the  east  side  of  Market  Street,  about  lofj  feet 
south  of  Lake  Street,  converted  it  into  a  tavern,  and  called 
it  the  Sauganash.  Beaubien.  who  was  born  in  iSoo,  was  one 
of  the  popular  heroes  of  the  town,  for  when  there  were  no  other 
amusements,  he  would  entertain  the  people  —  residents  and 
\isitors — with  his  fiddling,  and  for  years  and  years  no  reunion 
<if  old  settlers  was  complete  without  "  Mark  Beaubien  and  his 
fiddle,"  for  the  two  were  inseparable.  Ikaubien  laid  aside  his 
tiddle  at  Kankakee,  Illinois,  April  i  ul  is  now  listening 

to  better  music.  The  tavern  was  naniud  after  a  half-breed 
Indian  chief,  Sauganash,  meaning  •'  English."  His  right  name 
was  Billy  Caldwell,  and  he  was  born  in  Canada  about  the  year 
17S0.  His  father  is  said  to  have, been  an  Irish  officer  in  the 
British  Army,  and  his  mother  a^  Pottawatomie  squaw.  He 
came  to  Chicago  about  the  year  1S20,  and  soon  became  one  of 
the  most  conspicuous  and  popular  figures  in  the  community. 
He  died  at  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  September  2S,  1S41.*  The 
Sauganash  was  a  two-story  wooden  structure  20  by  40  feet  in 
dimensions,  with  a  wing  of  the  same  height  at  the  rear  and 
another  of  one  story  at  the  right,  the  latter  being  a  log  cabin 
with  two  windows  and  a  door.  It  looked  very  much  like  an 
ordinary  log  house  of  the  Colonial  period,  with  two  windows  on 
either  side  of  the  center  door,  and  five  windows  marking  the 
front  of  the  second  story,  the  roof  being  shaped  like  an  inverted 
V.  During  September,  1S37,  John  Murphy,  then  the  proprietor 
of  the  Sauganash,  vacated  it  and  moved  into  a  new  house 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Chicago  River,  that  mai'velous  stream 
whose  once  clear  waters  are  now  tainted  by  commerce,  and  its 
current  reversed  so  that  instead  of  running  into  Lake  Michigan 
the  latter  now  partially  cleanses  it  and  helps  it  reach  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 

Messrs.  Isherwood  &  MacKenzie  secured   the   Sauganash 


♦MARRIED.— In  this  place  on  the  morning  of  the  i8th  inst..  Rilly 
Caldwell,  chief  of  the  United  Nations  of  Ottawa,  Pottawatomie,  and 
Chippewa  Indians,  to  Saugua  le  Grand,  of  the  l^otL-wvatomie  Nation.— 
C/iicago  Democrat,  November  10,  1834. 

45 


Standard   Daily 
Through   Sleeping   Cars 


BETWEEN 


CHICAGO 


Galveston 
Tex. 

VIA  THE 

WABASH 
IRON  MOUNTAIN 
TEXAS  &  PACIFIC,  and 
INT.  &  GT.  NOR.   R'YS 

A\D 

Los 

Angeles 

Cal. 


WABASH 
IRON  MOUNTAIN 
TEXAS  &  PACIFIC,  and 
SOUTHERN  PACIFIC 

RAILWAYS 


FOR.    SLEEPING    CAR    RESERVATIONS.   TICKE,TS,   AND    FULL 
INFORMATION    APPLY  AT 

City    Ticket    Office,    97    Adams    St.,    Chicago 


F.  A.  Palmer 

Assistant  General  Passenjjer  AKen 
Chicago 


C.  S.  Crane 

General  Passeugei-  ami  Ticket  Agent 
St.  Louis 


and  converted  the  dining-room  into  a  theatre  accommodatin;^ 
about  200  persons.     The  floor  was  level  and  the  seats  wtrc 
rough  boards,  although  a  few  common  chairs  were  placed  in 
front  for  ladies  and  their  escorts.      The  building   had  been 
reconstructed    internally    to    represent    a    complete    modern 
theatre  in   miniature.     This  was  a  great  building  for  a  city 
scarcely  seven   months   old,  and  with   just   4.179  inhabitants. 
The    price   of    admission   was   75   cents.     The   opening   play 
on    this  eventful    first    night    of    October    17,    1S37,    was   the 
three-act    melodrama    by  J.  T.   Haines,  entitled  "The    Idiot 
Witness,  or  A  Tale  of  Blood."     The  leading  man  was  William 
Leicester,  an   Englishman.      Harry  Isherw<jod,  who   did   the 
-plain  acting  "as  he  termed  it,  was  also  the  scenic  artist  '■: 
the  company.     He  painted  the  first  scenery  used  in  Chicu'.;-' 
and  as  late   as  187S  was  scenic  artist  at  Wallack's  Theatre. 
New  York,  his  "  exteriors  "  being  particularly  fine.      He  was 
born   in   New  York,  where   he   made   his   debut   at  the  Park 
Theatre  as  Richard  HI.,  and  lived  to  be  over  eighty  year<  -  -' 
age.     Alexander  MacKenzie,  the  junior  partner,  was  an  r.: 
of  the  present 'Joseph  JefiFerson,  having  married  Miss  Hester 
JeiTerson,  a  sisterof  the  present  Joseph  Jefferson's  father. 
:Mts.  MacKenzie,  born  in  iSii,  and  educated  in  Philadelphia, 
had  the   distinction   of  being   the   first  woman   to   play  Mrs. 
Malaprop  in  "The  Rivals  "  in  America,  and  likewise  the  <!i<- 
in  Chicago.     Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  MacKenzie  now  lie  buri. 
the  old  City  Cemetery  at  Nashville,  Tennessee.     Willian 
cester,  who  played  Robert  Arnaud  on  that  eventful  night 
the  honor  later  of  being  the  first  man  to  play  Shylock  in 
cago.     In  after  days  he  succumbed  to  the  demon  drink. 
Chicago  was  even  then   an  enterprising  place   is  prove:, 
the  fact  that  "The  Idiot  Witness"  was  first  seen  in  America 
at  the  old  Warren  Theatre,  Boston,  in  1S36,  so  that  it  took 
barely  a  year  for  the  play  to  come  from  the  center  f>t  Tear: 
to   the  village   in   the  wilderness.      It   is   interestii;. 
that  there  is  still  one  dearly  beloved  actress  among 
took  part  in  a  performance  of  this  melodrama  as  far 
as    1S49.  when  it   was  presented    at   the    National   Thi 


rnin: 


i;- 


^^The  Stratford 

MICHIGAN    AND   JACKSON    BOULEVARDS. 
Next  Door  to  Illinois  Theatre. 


V 


GRO.   n.    WEAVER. 


200  Rooms   /.    125  Batb= Rooms 

Located  in  the  heart  of  Business,  Shopping",  and  Theatre  Districts. 

Rates,  SI. 50  ana  lipioards. 

Cbe  handsomest  **Dutcl)**  Room  in  America. 

Cuisine  f>igl)=Class. 

Special  attention  given  to  after-theatre  diners. 
The  hotel  is  equipped  with  the  latest  and  best  sanitary  improvements. 


Uiuiniii  'ae^i,  wlni    hiiN-ioiir 

'^'■'   1''  ...  Miss  Jtlaucle  Aflji.m^ 

r    the    Illinois    TIk  : 
I   lirsL  theatre  did  not  even  boast 
alk.      Instead  there  was  an  uifli 
h  two  short  and  stumpy  hiti 
pu.sL^    <  i  ioorway,  which  was    barely  large 

enough   :  .ns  at  (iiie   tinu-.      In   1SS4  Hamy 

Isherwood,  T  .Mr.  James  H. 

McVieker  from  New  Yurk  lluil  he  remembered  but  one  play 
tjiVen  duriiiL''  the  lirst  season  of  i>:;-,  naniel\-.  "The  Straiiver." 
adding  ne  wrong 

is  an  interesting  fact  that  at  least  three  of  the  early  Chieago 
actors  were  als')  scenic  artists.,  namelv.  ITarr\-  I>lKr\\i".(l , 
Joseph  !.,  and  Mr.  Beclcwii 

John  B.  npany  in  i,*>47  and  1S4;.      In  those  early  day> 

the  aiK  liail  eonie  nearest  to  beinu;'  i)laee>  of  aiur,-e- 

lieartil}  .he    I'lays  were  \\\  unci   were 

aiwavs  aree.     'Pile  plavl/iV  .  tlie  eiim- 

liancll.>;;i<.  about   i-jxi.-  melies  in  size.  '[istributed  by 

carriers    evcrv  morning,  as   there  we;  ■  "    dailA*  ]")ai5ers 

iie  plays  presented  dtxring  tl 
no   eompiete  "     -^  to   be   found.     But   it   is   known  that 

Thomas  Sar'  1  the  '•  old  men  ";  James  S.  AVright  was 

iitleman,"  and  Mrs.  David  IngersoU  was  the 
•  leading  lady.  Others  in  the  c(mipany  wei'e  Mrs.  Alexander 
MacKenzic,  Madame  Analine,  actress  and  danseuse,  and  the 
present  Joseph  Jefferson's  gifted  half-brother,  Charles  Burke, 
who  acted,  and  daiiced  the  Highland  lling  and  the  sailor's 
hoi-npipe.  Mrs.  David  IngersoU  was  another  aunt  of  the 
present  Joseph  Jefferson.  She  had  nian-ied  David  IngersoU, 
a  tragedian  of  great  promise,  who  died  in  St.  Louis  in  1837, 
aged  25  years.  She  was  an  actress  and  a  dancer,  and  lived  at 
the  old  Lake  House,  a  three-story  brick  structure  built  in  1836 


The  electrical   features  of  the   Iroquois  Theatre  were 

installed  by  the  Chicago  Edison  Company- 
Electricity  for  both  light  and  power  is  supplied  entirely 

from  our  street  mains  —  ilic  Modern  Method. 


at  the  coniti  wi  i<.u^h  aiul  Kin/.ic  .-Mn.(.'ts,  where  she  taughi 
(laneing  to  young  Chicagoans.  When  the  eompany  left  here 
she  remained  a  while  in  Chicago  and  continued  teaching.. 
After  leaving  Chicago  she  married  James  S.  Wright,  a  member 
of  the  old  company  at  the  Sauganash,  who  afterward  became 
prompter  at  Wallack's  Theatre,  New  York.  Wright  died  in 
New  York  on  June  27,  1S93,  at  the  age  of  79.  Mrs.  Wright 
died  in  1S96.  Chicago's  first  company  of  actors  pleased  the 
people  for  several  weeks,  and  then  left  the  city,  presumably  to 
appear  in  other  cities  in  Illinois,  and  possibly  in  St.  Louis. 
The  towns  that  probably  attracted  the  company  were  Juliet 
(now  Joliet).  Ottawa.  Peoria,  Jacksonville,  Springfield,  and 
Vandalia,  the  last  named  being  then  the  capital  of  Illinois.  It 
has  been  claimed  by  certain  old  settlers  of  Chicago  that  these 
performances  at  the  Sauganash,  in  October, 1837,  were  undoubt- 
edh^  the  first  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  a  statement  hardly  apt  to 
be  true,  as  a  number  of  the  adjoining  towns  were  much  older 
and  larger  in  1S37  than  Chicago,  and  must  have  drawn  to  them 
some  of  the  roving  companies  that  were  seen  in  St.  Louis  and 
the  Southern  cities  before  Chicago  was  incorporated. 

The  company  returned  in  1S38  and  included  among  its 
members  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greenbury  C.  Germon,  then  recently 
married.  The  latter,  Jane  Anderson  Germon,  was  then  but  16 
years  of  age,  and  was  a  cousin  of  the  present  Joseph  Jefferson. 
Her  mother  was  the  first  Joseph  Jefferson's  favorite  daughter, 
iiuphemia  Jeft'erson,  who  was  born  luiphemia  Fortune,  in  New 
York,  in  1774,  on  the  identical  day  that  her  prospective  husband 
was  born  at  Plymouth,  England.  Euphemia's  sister,  Esther 
Fortune,  became  the  second  wife  of  William  Warren,  the  elder, 
and  in  this  manner  the  Jefferson  and  Warren  families  first 
became  related  to  each  other,  a  relationship  emphasized  in  Chi- 
cago, in  1867,  when  Joseph  Jefferson  III.  married  Miss  Sarah 
.\nne  Isabel  De  Shields  Warren,  daughter  of  Henry  Warren 
II.  Jane  Anderson  Germon,  who  at  last  accounts  was  still 
living  in  Baltimore,  retired  from  the  stage  during  the  season 
of  18S9-1890;     Two  years  after  her  first  arrival  in  Chicago,  she 

.was  in  Augusta,  Ga.,  where  on  June  13,  1S40,  she  became  the 

51 


r^OME  admirer,  name  and  address  unknown,  wrote  this  sentence  on 
1^  the  back  of  a  menu  card  after  a  satisfactory  meal  in  a  Burlington 
dining  car.  It  means  that  the  Burlington  offers  passenger  service 
that  suits  its  patrons  in  every  particular.  The  schedules  of  Burlington 
trains  are  fast,  but  reliable;  the  equipment  comfortable;  the  employes 
courteous;  the  dining  car  service  unexcelled. 

Burlington  lines  gridiron  the  West,  reaching  practically  every 
important  point  between  Chicago,  St.  Louis  and  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Limited  trains  (no  e.xtra  fare)  between  Chicago  and  St.  Paul,  St.  Paul 
and  St.  Louis,  Chicago  and  Kansas  City,  Chicago  and  Denver,  St.  Louis, 
Kansas  City  and  Denver.     Through  service  to  California  via  Colorado. 

Through  service  to  the  Pacific  M"i-tv,«o<f  via  St   I'ml 

Billings  and  Denver. 


Buflin^ton 
Route 


Tell  rae  what  point  you  wu 

how  to  get  there,  and  what  it  will  cost. 


P.  S.  EUSTIS,  Passenger  Traffic  Manager,  CHICAGO. 


motlici  (if  the  talented  Effie  Gernion,  who  was  for  many  years 
;i  I'avMiii.  ..iinedicnne  at  AVallaek's  Theatre,  Xew  Yoi'k.  Mr. 
<  iermon,  at  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  Chicago,  was  but  22  years 
')f  age.  He  plaved  the  usual  variety  of  parts  while  in  Chicago. 
and  afterward  became  the  original  Uncle  T' 
Tom's  Cabin."  He  died  in  Chicago  April  14,  1-^54.  a-i  ;  - 
j-ears.  William  Warren,  then  only  26  years  of  age,  \\;\-  a 
member  of  this  company  of  pioneer  actors  and  1> 
immediate  favorite,  appearing  in  several  of  the  roles  m  wiikii 
he  afterward  won  so  much  fame  and  popularity  in  Boston, 
favoring  Chicago  with  his  Sir  Lucius  O'Trigger  in  "  'iln 
Rivals"  as  far  back  as  October  30,  1S39,  when  the  majorlLx 
of  the  patrons  of  the  playhouse  were  unfamiliar  with  classit- 
comedv,  either  in  the  librar\^  or  on  the  boards. 

And  in  this  company  wn-  :-  i;^'i.    1 >,vho  lived  lw  ,,w  m^ 

dean  of  the  American  sta;<  .isite  art  has  never 

been  e.xcelled  in'  the  playhouse,  whose  long  flaxen  hair  grew 
shorter  with  the  years,  then  darker,  and  then  whiter  as  the 
blessings  of  age  silvered  his  brow,  the  Avhile  the  player  and 
the  play-goer  learned  to  del  genius  and  profit  by  tht 

art  of  Joseph  Jefferson,  wh'  ■"   ''^"  c,  ,,,i1in,-,.,.;i  ,,„•,,,.. 

of  Spruce  and  Sixth  Street- 

His  mother  was  Cornelia  Frances  Si.  Thomas  Jefferson,  hi> 
father  being  her  second  hn>~'iniri  N'i>iing  Jefferson's  first 
plavhouse  was  "behind  tli  '   when   on  Monday 

evening,  September  2S,  1903,  Chicago  was  celebrating  her  Cen- 
tennial, Joseph  Jefferson  had  the  distinguished  privilege  ot 
appearing  at  Powers'  Theatre  in  "Rip  Van  Winkle"  and  of 
saying  to  his  attentive  audience  afthe  close  of  the  play:  •  I 
])laved  in  Chicago  sixty-five  years  ago." 

1 1  \\a>  sHJii  found  that  the  Sauganash  was  ;  ;  :;:- 

of  the  city,  so  the  next  building  to  be  converted  into  a  theatre 
and  opened  in  May,  1S38,  was  known  as  the  Rialto.  a  cheaji 
\\i;oden  structure  at  N(<s.  S  and  10  South  Dearborn  Street,  and 
owned  by  Augustus  Garrett,  who  became  Mayor  of  Chicag<i 
in  1S43.  The  theatre  was  in  the  upper  portion  of  the  struc- 
ture, a  rofun  30  x  So  feet  in  size.    Benjamin  F.  Taylor  described 


JACKSON  BOULEVARD  AND  WABASH  AVENUK 
OPPOSITE  THE  H.LINOIS  THEATER 

CUISINE  THE   FINEST  IN   AMERICA 


SPECIAL   CARE   TAKEN 
OF   THEATER    PARTIES 

WE  DESIRE  TO  CALL  PARTICULAR  ATTENTION  TO  OUR  THREE 
DEPARTMENTS  ON  THE  OFFICE  FLOOR.   KNOWN  AS 

The   Wellington   ' "Lini ited 
The   Wellington    White  Room 
The   Wellington   Mahogany  Room 

IN  THE  BASEMENT  OUR 

WHITE,   MARBLE,   CAFE, 

ON  THE  PARLOR  FLOOR 

SPECIAL  DINING   ROOMS 

CAPABLE  OF  SEA  TING  FROM  THREE  TO  EIGH  TV  PERSONS 

THE    JVELLINGTON  HOTEL 

ALBERT  S.  GAGE.   Prop. 


it  as  "a  den  of  a  place,  looking  more  like  a  dismantled  grist 
mill  than  the  temple  of  anj-body.  The  gloomj'  entrance  would 
have  furnished  the  scenery  for  a  nightmare,  and  the  lights 
within  were  sepulchral  enough  to  show  up  the  coffin  scene  in 
'  Lucretia  Borgia."  But  for  all  that  those  dingv  old  walls 
used  to  ring  sometimes  with  renderings  fine  enough  to  grace 
grander  Thespian  temples,  though  there  was  a  farce  now  and 
then  somewhat  broader  than  it  was  long." 

Still  the  Rialto  was  not  opened  without  opposition,  for  the 
late  Grant  Goodrich,  a  prominent  citizen  in  his  day,  declared 
the  theatre  a  "  menace  to  the  moral  welfare  of  the  city,"  con- 
tending "that  the  tendencj-  of  the  performance  at  modern 
theatres  was  grossly  demoralizing,  destructive  of  principle,  " 
and  that  they  "were  nurseries  of  crime."  But  the  Common 
Council  thought  differently  and  fixed  the  theatre  license  at 
ifioo  a  year,  which  was  $25  less  than  the  opponents  of  the 
enterprise  had  expected  it  would  be.  The  Rialto,  originallv 
used  as  an  auction  house  by  L.  W.  ^lontgomery,  was  quite  in 
the  center  of  the  city.  Side  by  side  wei'e  two  saloons,  "The 
Rialto"  and  "The  Eagle,"  the  latter  kept  by  Ike  Cooke. 
Directly  opposite,  on  the  east  side  of  Dearborn  Street,  close  to 
the  auction  rooms,  was  the  "Eating  House"  known  as 
"  Steele's  Refectory."  The  new  playhouse  was  called  the  Chi- 
cago Theatre,  and  a  number  of  new  people  were  added  to  the 
company  previously  seen  at  the  Sauganash.  Joseph  Jefferson, 
who  first  landed  here  by  boat,  in  May,  1S3S,  remembers  that  the 
Chicago  Theatre  "  was  quite  the  pride  of  the  city,  and  the  idol 
of  the  new  managers,  for  it  had  one  tier  of  boxes  and  a  gallerv 
at  the  back.  I  don't  think  that  the  seats  of  the  dress  circle 
were  stuft'ed,  but  I  am  almost  sure  that  they  were  planed." 
The  company  consisted  of  William  Leicester,  William  Warren, 
James  Wright,  Charles  Burke,  Joseph  Jeft'erson,  Sr. ,  Thomas 
Sankey,  William  Childs,  Harry  Isherwood,  artist,  Jcseph  Jeffer 
son,  Jr.,  Mrs.  Alexander  MacKenzie,  Mrs.  Joseph  Jefferson. 
Mrs.  David  Ingersoll,  and  Mrs.  Jane  Germon.  Young  Jefferson 
was,  in  his  own  words:  "The  comic  singer  of  this  party, 
making  mvself  useful  in  small  parts  and  first  villagers  :  now 


CHICAGO-ST.  LOUIS 


DAYLIGHT  SPECIAL,  GREEN,  GOLD  AND  BROWN  TRAIN 
DIAMOND  SPECIAL,  NIGHT  TRAIN 


and  then  doing  duty  as  a  Roman  Senator  at  the  back,  wrapped 
in  a  clean  hotel  sheet,  with  my  head  peering  over  the  profile 
banquet  tables.  I  was  just  nine  years  old.  I  was  found  useful 
as  Albert  and  the  Duke  of  York.  In  those  days  the  audience 
used  to  throw  money  on  the  stage  either  for  comic  songs  or 
dances.  And  oh  I  (with  that  thoughtful  prudence  which  has 
characterized  my  after  life),  how  I  used  to  lengthen  out  the 
verses."  The  stars  during  the  season  were  Mrs.  McClure, 
Dan  Marble,  and  A.  A.  A'i-i'"<  ^,.ni,^  ,,t"  tii,.  inlays  acted 
were  "The  Lady  of  Lyon^  loh  Roy," 

"  Damon  and  Pythias,"  "  Wivtb  as  They  Were,  Maids  as  They 
Are,"  and  "Sam  Patch."  The  first  season  at  the  Rialto 
continued  until  October,  1S3S,  when  a  benefit  was  tendered 
Mr.  MacKenzie  by  many  of  the  citizens;  fifty-one  in  all,  who 
addressed  a  complimentary  let tt-r  to  him  in  which  they  extolled 
the  artistic  excellence  and  p:  ,1"  himself  and  com- 

pany. Among  those  who  signed  it  were  :  John  Calhoun. 
Mark  Skinner,  Julius  Wadsworth,  T.  R.  Hubbard,  Thomas 
Hcv  -;e  Kerchival,  Norman  B.  Judd,  H.  O.  Stone,  and 

S.  S.  Bradley.  The  benefit  took  place  October  iS,  1S38,  and 
was  notable  for  the  first  performance  in  Chicago  of  "  The  Ladv 
"f  kvvins."     The  cast  was  as  follo\^  - 

Claude  ^reln^  ■  ..William  Leicester 

Beaiiseant William  Warren 

''ilavis --'niry  C.  Germun 

Colonel  Damas Thomas  Sankev 

Deschapelles. James  Wrig-h't 

Gaspar..  ("harles  Burke 

Officer  Mr.  Watts 

Pauline  .  i  )avid  Inger^^oll 

Madame  l/t-  .ii>.  Joseph  Jefferson 

Widow  Melnoi  Mrs.  Alexander  MacKenzie 

At  the  conclusion  ot  the  play  ^Master  Joseph  Jefferson  sang 
the  comic  song,  "  Lord  Lovell  and  Lady  Nancy."  Mr.  Germon 
then  recited  "  The  Hunters  of  Kentucky"  for  the  first  time  in 
Chicago.  The  performance,  which  began  promptly  at  7 
o'clock,  coijcluded  with  a  very  pretty  drama,  "Two  Friends." 
The  season  began  in  May  and  closed  in  October,  quite  revers- 
ing the  present  order  of  things.  No  performances  were  given 
'It'.riiv^-  what  would  now  be  termed  the  season  of  1838-1839. 
■lie  manager  took  in  $100  a  night,  he  did 


California 


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Santa  1  e 

^  W 


ALL,    THE    "WAX 


exceedingl)-  well,  and  those  were  the  good  old  days  when  good 
old  actors  and  good  younger  ones,  too,  were  content  to  play 
for  a  modest  salary,  when,  in  spite  of  appetites  and  desires, 
they  still  thought  a  little  more  of  their  art  than  they  did  of 
money,  when  every  player  realized  that  there  was  still  some- 
thing left  for  him  to  learn.  One  of  the  actors  of  this  period 
was  Isaac  ^lerritt,  who  was  destined  to  win  everlasting  fame 
as  an  inventor.  He  usually  played  Richard  III.  His  right 
name  was  I.  M.  Singer,  a  name  now  world-famous  as  that  of 
the  inventor  of  the  Singer  sewing  machine.  And  at  this  time. 
April  27,  1S39,  Edmund  Gill  attracted  attention  to  his  hotel  on 
the  corner  opposite  the  Lake  House,  by  calling  it  the  Shake- 
speare. Dan  M^EblAcame  along  during  the  last. week  of  Ma\-, 
1839,  and  "gave  his  Yankee  tricks,  stories,  and  notions  in  full 
style.     His  wife  assisted  him  on  the  stage." 

Chicago  had  an  actors"  colony  in  those  early  days,  tor  the  lirst 
City  Directory,  published  in  1S39, contained  the  f<  illowing  names: 

BuKKE,  Charles,  actor.  Chicago  Theatre. 

Germo.v,  Greene  C,  actor,  Chicago  'J  heatrc. 

GREEXE,  C.  L  .  actor.  Chicago  Theatre. 

jEFEERSO.x  &  M.^cKenzie.  managers.  Chicago  Theatre,  Dearborn  St. 

Jefferson-,  Joseph.  lefterson  &  MacKenzie. 

JEFFERSON,  JOSEPH,  (Joe  ,  comedian,  Chicago  Theatre. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  actor,  Chicago  Theatre. 

Mackenzie,  Ai.e.xander,  Theater,  Jef¥er.son  &  MacKen/.ic. 

SULLIV.\N,  A.,  actor,  Chicago  Theatre. 

Warren.  William,  comedian,  Chicago  Theatre. 

INOERSOLL,  Mrs.,  actress  and  teacher  of  dancing,  bds.  Lake  House. 

On  August  31,  1S39,  the  theatre  was  reopened  by  Joseph 
Jefferson  (father  of  Rip),  with  Colman's  musical  comedy.  "The 
Review,  or  The  Wag  of  "Windsor,"  and  "The  Illustrious 
Stranger,  or  Buried  Alive."  The  company  was  practically  the 
same  as  during  1S3S,  with  the  addition  of  A.  Sullivan  and 
C.  L.  Green.  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  like  his  son  was  a  painter  as 
well  as  an  actor,  had  succeeded  Mr.  Isherwood  as  Alexander 
MacKenzie's  partner.  The  theatre  had  been  newly  painted. 
The  motto  over  the  dro])  curtain  was  :  '  •  For  Useful  Mirth  Or 
Salutar}-  Woe."  Chicago  audiences  of  that  day  were  not  so 
well  behaved  as  might  have  been  desired,  for  the  daily  imi^er 
felt  called  upon  to  say  "  There  is  a  police  in  attendance  whose 
f/u/y  it  is  to  preserve  strict  order  and  decorum  in  the  theatre. 
If  the  ladies  are  waiting  for  fashionable  precedents,   we  will 

59 


'THE  OVERLAND  LIMITED." 
Electric  Lighted. 


in  111  is  Stale .  llic  Ih 
aUtiulcd  ,^c*ncr;illy   l>y  tiK'   licaut  '    '    -liioii  of  the  lai;     • 

and  by  the  ;4entlemen  f)f  the  phu  -  Miieial  ])ositions  !"■    ;• 

Judge  of  the  Supreme  Coiu't  down.     This  has  beci. 
w  L'  believe,  at  St.  Louis  and  in  tlie  East." 

Joseph  Jefferson,  tlie  second,  was  l)orn  in  Philadelpliia  in 
i->o4,  and  in  1S26  married  Mrs.  Hui'ke,  wh' 

senior.  He  was  manager  and  actor,  and  aiway^  paimcn  m-- 
own  sceneiy.  He  died  suddenly  at  Mobile,  Ala.,  at  midnight, 
Thursday,  November  24,  1S42,  of  yellow  fever.  He  was  br 
l!ie  next  day  in  Magnolia  Cemetery,  Mobile,  the  theatre  Ijcin^ 
closed  two  nights,  as  the  company,  with  tlie  exception  of  six 
people,  was  composed  entirely  of  members 

son  family,  and  it  was  impossible  to  plii\  xxilmlkl  lju.  >_i]iv,i 
mourners.  ]\Ir.  John  T.  Ford,  of  BaUiniorc,  said  that  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson "was  one  of  the  most  lovable  men  that  ever  lived." 

Up  to  this  time  no  regular  theatrical  advertisements  liad 
appeared  in  the  daily  paper,  editorial  paragraphs  taking  their 
place.     But  on  Monday  evening,  September  n  m 

vegni'iv  ■wU-,.vii^,.n,,.nt  In  1  >,  .1,  ■,  1 1  of  a  Icgitin^'f' 
Idi  ;)earance  ^ 

THEATER. 

Monday  Evening,  September  9,  1839. 

Will  be  presented  the  drama  called 

The  Magpie  and  tliR  Maid,  nr  Which  is  the  Thief? 

Farmer  Geralii  .  ifr.  (ireeii 

Heiijaniin,  a  Ji,  \  ..Jefferson 

Annette  ...  i/s.  Intfer.soll 

IJame  Oera  Mackenzie 

After  which  a  CONCERT.— P.\kt  I 
Ballad  by'  Mr.  Dempster    "  She  wore  a  wreath 
roses  ".     New  vSong,  by  Mr.  Dempster,  '■  Can  I 
forget  to  love  thee?  " — composed  by  himself — 
Scottish  Ballad  by  Mr.  Dempster   "  vSaw  ye  mv  wet-  iimig. 

P.VKT   II 

The  Angel's  Whiper,  by  Mr.  Dempster. — 
Song  bj^  Mr.  Dempster,  "  Some  love  to  roam  o'er 
the  dark  sea  foam.  "     Song  by  Mr   Dcmnstir 
"  Oh  promise  me  to  sing  love  ". 


To  conclude  with  the  li'ish  Tutor,  or  New  Liji-hts. 

Gl 


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LIGHTING     FIXTURES     FOR     THIS     THEATER 
FURNISHED     BY     US. 

WK    HAVE    CONTRACTS    FOR   THE   LIGHTIXG   FIXTURES 
FOR    THE    FOIiLOWIISTG    BUIL.DIXGS : 

First  Kational  Bank  Building  .  ..Chicago,  111. 

Railway  Exchange  Building Chicago,  111. 

Nixon  Theater  and  Building Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Butler  Hotel Seattle,  "Wash. 

Joliet  Public  Library ..Joliel,  111. 

Chesbrough  Building Toledo,  Ohio 

Hibernia  Bank  Building New  Orleans,  La. 

Third  National  Bank Cincinnati,  Ohio 

First  National   Bank Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Doctor  Coffee's  Residence.. Des  Moines,  Iowa 

Mr.  W.  J.  Young's   Residence Clinton,  Iowa 

Governor  Toole's  Residence Helena,  Mont. 


Please  note  that  there  was  a  change  of  bill  at  every  per- 
formance and  that  two  or  three  plaj'S  were  given  every  evening. 
■ '  Oliver  Twist "  had  its  first  performance  in  Chicago,  September 
if),  1839.  ^Irs.  Germon  inlaying  Oliver:  Mr.  Sankey,  Fagin;  Will- 
iam Warren,  Bill  Sykes ;  and  Mrs.  MacKenzie,  Nancy  Sykes 
Tuesday.  September  1 7,  1 S39,  was  another  important  first  night, 
Colman's  "The  Poor  Gentleman"  being  played  with  William 
Wan-en  as  Dr.  Ollapod.  ' '  She  Stoops  to  Conquer  "  was  first 
given  on  Thursdaj-,  September  19,  1S39,  and  "Jane  Shore"  on 
Friday,  September  20,  1S39,  with  Mrs.  Germon  as  Jane  Shore. 
During  the  last  week  of  September,  1839,  the  management 
found  it  necessary  to  build  "a  separate  entrance  for  ladies," 
due  no  doubt  to  the  rather  rude  behavior  of  the  male  theatre- 
goers of  that  period.  ' '  Damon  and  Pythias  "  was  given  for  the 
first  time  Friday,  September  27,  1S39,  with  Mr.  Leicester  as 
Damon  and  Mrs.  Germon  as  Calanthe.  The  house  was  poor. 
The  time  was  now  ripe  for  the  advent  of  so-called  "  stars." 
and  they  came.  Mrs.  McClure  and  Mr.  Charles  Kemble  Mason 
had  the  honor  of  being  the  first  stars  to  shine  in  Chicago.  They 
appeared  on  Wednesday,  October  2,  1839,  in  "The  Lady  of 
Lyons."  The  next  evening  they  gave  "  The  Wonder"  for  the 
first  time  here.  Friday,  October  4,  1S39,  "Fazio"  was  given 
for  the  first  time,  followed  by  "  Katherine  and  Petruchio." 
Still  the  first  presentation  of  a  Shakespearean  play  in  its 
entiret}-  did  not  take  place  until  Monday,  October  7,  1S39, 
Mrs.  McClure  being  the  first  Juliet  and  Mr.  Mason  the  first 
Romeo  Chicago  ever  saw.  "  ]\Iacbeth  "  was  first  given  Thurs- 
day, October  10,  1S39,  ^vith  :Mr.  Mason  as  Macbeth,  Mr.  Leicester 
as  Macduft",  and  Mrs.  McClure  as  Lady  Macbeth.  And  strange 
to  say,  the  Shakespearean  performances  were  the  best  of  the 
season.  And  then  followed  the  first  performance  of  "  Hamlet." 
Tuesday,  October  15,  1S39.  It  was  given  for  Mr.  MacKenzie's 
benefit,  and  Charles  Kemble  Mason  had  the  distinction  of  being 
our  first  Hamlet,  while  Mrs.  ^^IcClure  was  our  first  Ophelia. 
Mr.  James  H.  McVicker,  in  his  interesting  reminiscences  of  the 
eai-ly  Chicago  stage,  credits  Charles  Kemble  Mason  with  being 

the  first  Shylock  that  Chicago  ever  saw.     This  is  an  error,  for 

63 


F.  P.  SMITH 
WIRE  AND 
IRON  WORKS 


0 


OR  N  A  MENTAL 
IRON  AND  BRONZE 


0 


A  R  T    M  E  T  AL  W^O  1^  Is 


IrOQUOT<=;    and   Ilijvm!-;  1>TFATRI•:^ 


Office  and  Warehousf,  Factory  :     Chester  St., 

loo  and  I02  Lake  St.  Clybourn  and  Fnllerton  Ave- 


CTTTCV-XOn 


■The  Merchant  of  Venice "  was  not  given  until  Thursday, 
October  17,  1S39,  and  for  William  Leicester's  benefit,  that  gen- 
tleman appearing  as  Shylock.  On  October  21,  1S39,  "  Pizarro. 
or  the  death  of  Rolla  "  was  given,  little  Joseph  Jefferson  appear- 
ing as  the  child.  How  many  in  the  audience  thought  of  seeing 
him  in  1S6S  as  Rip  \'an  Winkle  ?  Wednesday,  October  30,  1839, 
is  of  historic  interest,  for  on  that  evening  "The  Rivals"  was 
given  for  the  first  time  in  Chicago  and  for  the  benefit  of  William 
Warren,  although  no  mention  of  his  name  was  made  in  the 
simple  advertisement  of  that  day,  and  which  read  as  follows  : 


THEATER. 

Wednesday  Evening,  October  30,  1839 

Will  Be  Presented 

THE    RIVALS-Or,  A  Trip  to  Bath. 


To  conclude  witli 

THE    IMILLER'S    IVIAID. 

Please  observe  the  Jeffersonian   flavor  of  the  cast: 

Sir  Anthony  Absolute...  Iliomas  Sankey 

Bob  Acres Joseph  Jefferson 

Captain  Absolute William  Leicester 

Faulkland Greenbury  C.  Gernion 

I^a"<^--- — -...".C.  L.  Green 

Sir  Lucius  O'Trigger William  Warren 

Fag - Charles  Burke 

Mrs.  Malaprop ...Mrs.  Ale.xander  MacKen/.ie 

Lydia  Languish Mrs.  David  IngersoU 

J"li* - Mrs.  Greenbury  C.  Gernion 

I'"<^y :\Irs.  Joseph  Jefferson 

The  cast  included  Mr.  Jenerson,  his  wife,  his  two  sisters, 

his  niece,  his  stepson,  his  cousin,  and  his  niece's  husband. 

At   this  time  the  elder   Jefferson  was   only  35   yeai's  of  age, 

63 


r 


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ranges,  its  magnificent 
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laden  air,  make  it  the 
greatest  winter  resort 
know^n. 

The  most  luxurious 
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famous    electric -lighted 


Overland  Limited 

leaving  Chicago  daily  at   8.00  p.m.,  makes  the  journey  to  California 

via  The  North- Western  Line  in  less  than  three  days. 

The   route  of  the   Limited  is  over  the  only  double-track    railway 

between  Chicago  and  the  Missouri  River,  through  Omaha,  Cheyenne 

and  Ogden,  down  the  Valley  of  the  Sacramento  to  the  Golden  Gate, 

and  via  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  or  over  the  beautiful  Coast  Line  (where 

for  a  hundred  miles  the  road  lies  along  the  shore  of  the  shining  Pacific) 

to  Los  Angeles. 

Two  fast  trains  through  to  California  leave  Chicago 
via  the  Chicago  &  North-VVestern  Railway  daily.  Sleep- 
ing car  reservations  and  full  information  on   request. 

TICKET   OFFICES. 

212  Clark  St.  and  Wells  St.  Station,  Telephone  Central  721 
NWI29  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


^ 


Mrs.  Jefferson  was  43  ;  Charles  Burke  only  17  :  Mrs.  Ingersoll 
about  24:  Mrs.  ^MacKenzie  about  28:  Mrs.  Germon  17,  and  Mr. 
(iermon  23.  William  Warren,  born  in  Philadelphia,  November 
17,  1812,  was  27  years  of  age.  From  here  Mr.  Warren  went 
to  Buffalo  and  then  to  Boston.  He  died  at  2  Bullfinch  Place, 
Boston,  September  21,  18S8.  The  season  at  the  Rialto  closed 
on  Saturday  evening.  November  2,  1839,  with  "The  Devil's 
Ducat,"  a  drama,  followed  by  a  nautical  piece,  "Tom  Crin- 
gle's Log."    And  what  became  of  the  old  Sauganash?    On 


April  9,  1S40,  the  following   adveriisenient  appeared  in   Chi- 
cago's daily : 

"  SAUGANASH  HOTEL.  This  old  establishment  is  now  fitted  up 
in  elegant  style,  and  has  resumed  its  original  and  native  name,  with  a 
thorough  reformation  of  old  habits  and  customs.    JOHN  MURPHY." 

But  the  results  of  the  panic  of  1837  were  making  themselves 
felt,  and  for  seven  years  after  1839  there  was  no  dramatic  com- 
pany of  special  repute  in  the  city.  Mrs.  J.  G.  Porter  reopened 
the  Chicago  Theatre  on  March  31,  1842,  and  tried  to  give  per- 
formances without  a  license,  hoping  to  open  in  a  burletta. 


KST.visMsii  i:i)    is: 


L.  H.  PRENTICE 
COMPANY 


E  N  G  I  \  E  E  R  S    A  \  I> 
CONTRACTORS     FOR 


STEAM  AND  HOT  W^ATER  HEATINO 
AND  VENTILATINO  APPARATUS 


24-2t>    SJIERAIAX   ST..  NEAR    BOARD   OF  TRADE 

CHICAGO 


PROP.ABI.V    THE     I.AKGKST     FIRM     OF    TJIIS     KfiVD     IN'    THK    ^VORI.D. 

VIZ.:    EXCT.rsiVEI.Y    HEATING   APPARATUS,    STEAM 

AND    HOT    -WATER.    THAT    HEATS 


"  The  Swiss  Cottage."  She  was  Chicago's  first  woman  man- 
ager, and  on  April  4  she  petitioned  the  Council  for  forgiveness 
and  a  license.  She  secured  both,  the  price  of  the  latter  being 
$30,  that  of  the  former  not  being  quoted.  On  Saturdaj',  April 
().  she  announced  a  benefit  for  herself.  It  was  to  be  her  last 
appearance  before  leaving  for  Buffalo.  The  ijerformance 
Ixgan  with  the  burlesque  "  The  Manager  in  Distress,  or  All  in 
a  Ouandary."  certainly  a  most  appropriate  title.  Mrs.  Porter 
was  the  eldest  daughter  of  >rr>^    Maw  T  ),iff 


-  -^ 

h'' 

-v^ 

J^^^^ 

^  ^^"^^H 

'^^^^m 

^'  J^^^^^K 

DANFORD 

MARBLE 

On  August  3<j.  1S42.  Chicago  had  its  first  real  opportunity  to 

uidge  of  the  dramatic  qiialities  of  Dan  ford  Marble,  who  with 

-Mrs.  Marble  appeared  at  the  Rialto  in  "  The  Forest  Rose,  or 

The  American  Farmer."    Marble  was  Jonathan  Ploughboy  and 

Mrs.  Sillsbe  (late  Mrs.  Trowbridge)  was  Harriet.    The  opening 

l)lay  of  the  brief  engagement  of  three  nights  was  supplemented 

with  "  Black-Eyed  Susan,"  ^Irs.  Sillsbe  playing  Susan,  and  Jlr. 

Marble,  William.    Business  was  poor  at  first,  but  as  it  improved, 

the  engagement   was    several  times   e.xtended  and   fourteen 

]ierformances  were  given.     For  Marble's  benefit  on  Monday, 

09 


There  Is  But  One  Niagara 
There  Is  But  One  Road  • . . 

Running  directly  by  and  in  full  view  of  the  entire  panorama  of  the 
cataract.     It  is  the 

Michigan  Central 


The  Niagara  Falls  Route  between 

Chicago,    Detroit,    Buffalo, 
New  YorK,  and  Boston  .  .  . 

Send  three   red   stamps  for    Niagara   Booklet,   and  ask   about 
the  new  Niagara  picture. 

City  TicRet  Office,  119  Ada.ms  Street 
O.  W.  RUGGLES,  G.  P.  AND  T.  A.   CHICAGO. 


September  5,  1S42,  the  prize  comedy,  "The  Yankee  in  Time," 
was  given  for  tlie  first  time  here,  with  Marble  as  Jacob  Jew- 
sharp,  a  role  in  which  James  H.  McVicker  distinguished  himselt 
in  after  years.     Listen  to  Benjamin  F".  Taylor  : 

"It  was  in  that  dirty  old  rat  trap,  the  'Rialto,'  I  think,  that  1  saw 
Dan  Marble  for  the  first  time.  '  Black-Eyed  Susan  '  and  Marble's  admii-- 
able  William  melted  the  house,  as  if  it  had  been  something  in  a  crucible. 
It  was,  in  its  way,  the  perfection  and  simplicity  of  nature.  The  audience 
was  a  little  mixed.  There  were  the  fellows  that  in  New  York  would 
have  'killed  the  Keiser,'  the  '  wake-me-up-when-Kirby-dies  stripe.' 
There  was  a  small  handful  of  half-breeds,  a  sprinkling  of  lieutenants 
from  the  army,  one  or  two  worn-out  paymasters.-  The  pit  was  full  of 
sailors,  with  occasionally  a  wharf-rat ;  but  for  fresh-water  tars  there 
was  a  wonderful  effusion  of  salt  water.  Even  the  always  conscious 
dress-circle  fluttered  with  any  number  of  white  cambric  mops,  and 
when  the  play  took  the  right  turn  at  last,  the  'gods'  applauded  and  the 
spiders  hovering  in  their  webs,  and  the  mice  in  the  walls,  were  whist. 
Even  the  chaps  that  spent  their  time  in  the  interludes  in  bawling  '  boots ' 
and  '  supe '  and  eating  peanuts,  mopped  out  the  corner  of  their  eyes 
with  their  dirty  knuckles,  and  had  the  theatrical  manageinent  furnished 
soap,  as  well  as  sorrow,  some  of  them  might  have  put  a  better  face  on  the 
matter.  I  can  see  the  centi'al  figures  of  that  dres.s-circle  to-day.  Hands 
that  I  think  have  .shriveled  out  of  the  white  kids  they  wore  that  night. 
The  blue  dress  coats  and  buff  vests  have  been  laid  aside  for  other  and 
stranger  wear.  Yonder,  crowned  with  iron-gray  Jacksonian  hair,  is  the 
stately  form  of  Colonel  Kerchival.  The  man  near  him  with  large  luminous 
eyes  is  the  Hon.  Giles  Spring,  owner  of  one  of  the  finest  judicial  minds 
that  ever  graced  the  State.  Beyond  him  is  Doctor  Maxwell,  with  a  step 
as  light  as  that  of  a  wisp  of  a  girl,  for  all  of  his  two  hundred  and  odd 
pounds  of  solid  flesh.  Clo.se  by  are  E.  W.  Tracy,  George  W.  Meeker, 
and  Doctor  Stuart,  and  —  but  why  keep  on  calling  the  dead  men's  roll? 
Some  of  the  beauty  as  well  as  the  manhood  of  the  young  city  was  there, 
and  brightened  up  the  dull  old  place  like  moonlight  ;  biit  what  matters 
it?  The  footlights  are  out,  the  players  departed,  and  the  air  is  full  of 
dust  withal.     Down  with  the  curtain." 

■"Richard  III  "was  first  given  Saturday,  August  20,  1S42. 
with  Mr.  Ljme  as  Gloster,  and  "Othello"  was  introduced  to 
Cliicago,  September  14,  1842,  in  a  unique  way.  There  was. a 
tailor  here  who  "had  been  told  by  his  friends  that  he  could 
act,"  and  he  applied  to  the  management  for  an  opportunity. 
There  were  not  many  tailors  in  Chicago  then,  and  as  he  was 
the  only  one  who  could  act  —  or  thought  he  could  —  there  was  a 
certainty  that  all  his  colleagues,  and  at  least  a  few  of  their 
customers,  would  be  present  if  he  played.  Business  had  not 
been  sufficiently  good  to  resist  the  potency  of  a  great  noveltv, 
so  the  tailor  was  jiermittcd  to  prepare  himself.    It  was  arranged 


•'•..'  <r 


II  PI     I 

III  M 


BALLROOM     AND     STAGE,     KKXWOOD     CLUB. 
DECORATED     BY     MARSHALL    FTELD    &    CO. 


INTERIOR  DECORATING 

Some  of  the  finest  theaters,  residences,  churches,  clubs,  hotels, 
and  public  buildings  which  are  famed  for  their  interior  beauty  are 
examples  of  the  work  of  our  Interior  Decorating  Section. 

THEATRICAL   COSTUMING 

Some  of  the  most  elaborately  costumed  companies  on  the  Amer- 
ican Stage  were  equipped  by  our  Costuming  Section. 

MARSHALL    FIELD    6    CO. 
CHICAGO 


tf)  give  Mrs.  Powell  a  benefit  and  to  allow  the  tailor  to  ajipear 
in  the  third  act  of  "  Othello."  it  being  such  an  easy  act  to  play, 
especially  for  a  tailor.  The  tailor,  who  was  billed  as  "  a  gentle- 
man of  this  city,"  did  so  well  that  in  1S4S  at  Rice's  Chicago 
Theatre,  he  was  allowed  to  play  the  character  in  its  entirety. 
On  another  occasion,  he  played  lago,  and  later  he  became  an 
actor  of  good  repute  and  was  known  as  George  Ryer. 

On  Tuesday,  September  27,  1S42,  the  Chapman  Building, 
at  the  southeast  corner  of  Randolph  and  Wells  Streets,  was 
opened  as  a  theatre  by  William  P.  Hastings,  with  "The 
Golden  Farmer."  Tickets,  25  cents  I  The  season  was  brief 
and  unsuccessful.  Then  came  "The  Learned  Pig"  in  1S44. 
On  November  21,  1844,  ^  Museum  began  its  legal  existence 
in  the  Commercial  Building,  at  73  Lake  Street.  Its  manager, 
Henry  Fuller,  boasted  of  an  extensive  variety  of  geology, 
mineralogy,  conchology,  ornithology,  and  promised  that  noth- 
ing should  be  introduced  within  its  walls  not  "in  strict  accord- 
ance with  propriety,  morality,  and  religion."  To  give  variety 
to  the  development  of  the  drama  in  1844,  at  the  Old  Chicago 
Theatre,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  had  a  fight  one  evening  between 
the  acts,  with  a  lot  of  sailors,  heelers,  and  canal  laborers.  The 
drama  languished  and  the  Rialto  was  again  converted  to  its 
original  purpose.  The  population  had  grown  from  3,265,  in 
1835,  to  3,820,  in  1836 ;  to  4,179  in  1S37,  and  had  fallen  to  4,000 
in  183S.  In  1839  it  was  increased  by  200.  In  1S44,  when  the 
population  had  reached  S,(X)o,  it  was  suggested  by  the  Council 
that  it  was  advisable  to  plank  Lake  Street  between  Dearborn 
and  State  Streets.  Considering  the  city's  drawbacks,  youth, 
and  isolation  it  was  a  matter  of  wonder  that  the  place  could 
boast  of  such  a  good  theatrical  beginning.  They  were  brave 
men  and  women  who  first  trod  the  boards  of  the  Chicago  stage, 
and  the  members  of  the  Jefferson  family  especially  deserve  a 
statue  for  their  honest  and  chaste  efforts  in  behalf  of  the 
drama,  when  the  city  boasted  of  its  4,iX)o,  but  had  no  "400." 
Chicago  had  grown  from  12,088,  in  1845,.  to  14,169,  in  1846,  and 
Thursday.  June  30,  1846,  Christy's  Minstrels  appeared  for  the 
first  time  at  the  City  Saloon    and  two  months  later  the  North 


Hansell-Elcock 
Company 


I  STRUCTURAL  t 
t STEEL  AND  t 
t  IRON  WORK  t 


Archer  Ave.  and  23d  Place 

CHICAGO 


ALL  STRUCTURAL  STEEL  AND  IRON 
FOR  THE  IROQUOIS  THEATRE 
FURNISHED   BY  THIS   COMPANY 


and  South  Sides  were  connected  by  a  new  ferryboat  plying 
between  River  and    Rush  Streets,  and  provided  free  by  the 
proprietors  of  the  Lake  House.     Howe  &  Mabie's  Arena  and 
United    States   Circus    appeared    August    21,    1846,    for   four 
evening  and  one  afternoon  performances.     Among  the  riders 
was  Matthew  Buckley,  who  grew  to  be  the  oldest  showman  in 
the  United  States,  dying  at  Delavan,  Wisconsin,  February  28. 
1S97,  aged  97  years.     In  October,  1846,  the  old  Rialto  Building 
was  again  converted  into  a  playhouse  and  called  the  National 
Theatre,   opening    with   "The    Golden   Farmer"   and   "The 
Harlequinade."     On   November  9,   1846,  it   was  formally  re- 
opened with  "Wenlock  of  Wenlock,"  with  Reuben  Marshael 
as  Wenlock.     The  season  concluded  November  14th  with  F.  D. 
Wilson  as  Othello.     On  Wednesday,  December  23,  1846,  the 
National  Theatre  became  the  People's  Theatre.     The  opening 
bill  was  "The  Hunchback,"  with  Madame  LaBurriss  as  Julia; 
F.  D.  Wilson  as  Master  Walter  ;  Reuben  Marshael  as  Clifford, 
and  Samuel  Edwin  Brown  as  Fathom.     The  prices  during  this 
engagement  were:     Boxes,  50  cents;   parquette,  31}4  cents; 
gallery,  25  cents.    The  performances  began  at  7. 15  o'clock.    The 
theatre  changed  its  name  again  to  the  National  on  Thursday, 
January  21,  1S47.     The  next  evening  "  The  Bandit  Chief  "  was 
given,  followed  by  "The  Apostate"  and  "  The  Lottery  Ticket," 
and  at  2  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  February  i,  1847,  fire  broke 
out  and  the  theatre  and  adjoining  buildings  went  up  in  smoke. 
While  the  house  was  in  a  blaze  a  wag  remarked  that  this  was 
positively  its  last  appearance  "for  the  beneHt  of  the  city,"  and 
another  replied  that  he  was  rejoiced  to  see  it  "  so  well  heated 
for  the  occasion. "     But  it  should  not  have  been  an  occasion  for 
levity.     The  friend  of  the  drama  should  have  had  a  reverence 
for  the  old  structure  whose  boards  had  been  trodden  by  two 
Joseph  Jeffersons,  Charles  Kemble  Mason,  Charles  Burke,  Dan 
Marble,  and  William  Warren. 

Then  came  glad  tidings!  John  B.  Rice,  destined  to  become 
one  of  Chicago's  brightest  ornaments,  who  was  to  be  Mayor  of 
Chicago  in  after  days  and  the  city's  representative  in  Congress, 
came  here  from  Buffalo  and  recognized  the  fact  that  the  great 


"Speed,  Safety 
and  Comfort" 

Is  the  motto  which  has  earned  for  TttE  PENNSYLVflNlfl  SfiORT  LINES 
the  leputation  of  being-  The  Standard  Railway  of  America 

THE  LIMITED     Both  start  from  Chicago— The  Limited 

AND  at  6.00  p.  m.,  and  luxury  enjoyed  by 

LUXURY         passengers  on  this  train  at  the  same  hour 

THE 

FAMOUS    PENNSYLVANIA    LIMITED 

23    HOURS 

CHICAGO    TO    NEW    YORK 

Leaves  Chicago,  daily,  6.00  p.  m. 
Arrives  New  York  .  .  6.00  p.  m. 


This  train  is 
composed  of 
Pullman  equif 
ment  and  con- 
sists of  Library 
Smoking   Ca 
DiningCar,Dra 
ing  Room  Sleeping 
Car,  and  Compart 
ment  Observ 
Car  —  a  solid  vesti 
bule  train  Ch 
New  York. 
EVERY  COMFORT 


SPECIAL 
FEATURES 

originated    on 
the      Pknnsvl- 
r.A.\iA   Limukd: 
-ibrary    Smok- 
ig    Car,    Barber 
Shop, Bath  Rooms, 
Stenographer, 
Stock    reports  and 
latest    market    bul- 
letins,   a    Trained 
Waiting   Maid,    ever 
;ady  to  assist  ladies 
aveling  alone,  large 
rlor   in   Observation 
Car  (the  rear  having  a 
recessed  and  protected 
platform)  for    sight 
seeing. 


SEVEN    TRAINS    DAILY  ^o  the   EAST 


Harbor  and  River  Convention  of  1S47  would  bring  thousands  of 
people  to  the  growing  young  eity  of  the  plains,  and  that  they 
would  ask  for  entertainment.  On  May  5,  1S47,  he  entered  into 
a  contract  for  the  construction  of  a  building,  to  be  used  as  a 
theatre  on  the  south  side  of  Randolph  Street,  and  about  kxj  feet 
east  of  Dearborn,  within  the  same  square  that  afterward  held 
Crosby's  Opera  House  and  on  the  very  spot  where  the  Unity 
Building  now  stands.  And  strange  fact,  this,  the  first  actual 
theatre  to  be  built  in  Chicago,  stood  directly  opposite  the  spot 
where  the  Iroquois  now  stands.  After  fifty-six  years  of  growth 
and  pride  and  change,  the  new  theati-e  erected  solely  for  theat- 
rical purposes  stands  across  the  street  from  the  lot  that  har- 
bored the  first  structure  erected  in  Chicago  for  strictly  theatrical 
]nn-poses.  John  B.  Rice,  who  was  the  father  of  Mrs.  James  B. 
Kimball,  Mrs.  James  W.  Odell,  Mrs.  William  Smith,  Mrs.  (Jeorge 
L.  Dunlap,  and  Mrs.  Orson  Smith,  spent  $4,000  on  the  theatre! 
Think  of  it,  $4,000!  But  it  was  a  large  sum  to  expend  on  a 
theatre  at  a  time  when  the  telegraph  reached  no  farther  west 
than  Ypsilanti,  Michigan:  just  seven  months  before  a  telegraph 
line  was  opened  between  Chicago  and  Milwaukee,  namely,  on 
January  20.  1S4S;  five  years  before  the  first  railway  ran  into 
Chicago  from  the  East  over  the  Michigan  Southern  and  North- 
ern Indiana  tracks,  and  eleven  years  before  the  first  screet  ear 
ran  on  State  Street!  It  is  also  something  of  a  coincidence  that 
this  first  train  from  the  East  was  brought  into  the  city  by 
Thomas  G.  Davis,  the  father  of  Will  J.  Davis,  of  the  Illinois 
and  Iroquois  Theatres.  The  theatre,  built  in  less  than  fifty- 
four  days,  was  an  ordinary  wooden  structure  of  the  period,  two 
stories  high,  and  excessively  plain.  Its  interior  was  more 
ornate,  and  every  part  nf  the  house  afforded  a  good  view  of 
the  stage.  The  entire  lower  floor  was  devoted  to  the  pit.  The 
boxes  were  elegantly  furnished  —  for  those  days  —  and  were 
fitted  up  with  carpets  and  settees.  The  little  town  was  enthu- 
siastic over  its  new  playhouse,  which  was  opened  Monday 
evening.  June  2S.  1S47.     Behold  the  opening  bill: 


En- 
gravings 

by 

F.G.Jungblut&Co. 
Chicago 


NEYT  CHICAGO  THEATER 

The  Manager  respectfully  announces  to  the 
public  that  the  above  new  and  spacious  establish- 
ment will  be  open  for  their  reception  THIS  (Mon- 
day) evening,  with  a  full  company  of  experienced 
Artists,  and  an  efficient  Orchestra. 

KIRSr     MC;HT    OK    THE    E.\(JAGF.MENT    Ol" 

MRS.    HUNT,  IN    KIVE    DIKFEKENT 

CHARACTERS. 

MR.  MARBLE  wii.i.  ai.su  aiteak 

Tins    EVE.NIXG. 

Previous  to  the  performance,  an  opening  Ad- 
dress, written  by  a  gentleman  of  this  city,  will  be 
delivered  by  Mr.  Harris. 

Monday  evening,  June  28th,  will  be  performed  the 
Comedietta,  entitled 

FOUR  SISTERS; 

Or,    Woman's    Worth    and    Woman's    Ways. 

Caroline  Merton Mrs.  Hunt 

Diana do 

Ugenia do 

Ellen do 

Beauchamp Mr.  Mossop 

Mr.  Merton Phillimore 

Tom  Snaffle Meeker 

Susan _ Mrs.  Price 

Landlady Mrs.  Stevens 

GRAND  SPANISH  DANCE,  by  Miss  Homer 
Emigrant's  Lament... Mr.  Mossop 

To  be  followed  by  the  Yankee  Comedy  of  the 

WOOL  DEALER 

DEUTERONOMY  DUTIFUL MR.  MARBLE 

Capt.  Oakley Canoll 

Col.  Gormsley,  with  song  of  Rorv  O'More Mossop 

Mr.  Waddle .' Phillimore 

Slap  „ ...Meeker 

Amanda .Mrs.  Price 

Highland  Fling,  Miss  Homer 

The  whole  to  conclude  with  the  Farce  of  the 

YOUNG  SCAMP 

Joseph,  the  Younj?  Scamp MRS.  HUNT 

Arthur Mr.  Canoll 

Mildew Philliir.ore 

Gen'l  Beauvoir Rice 

Mrs.  Manly Mrs.  Price 

Mrs.  Swansdown Mrs.  Stevens 

Eliza • Miss  Homer 

Admission.  Dress  Circle,  50  cents ;  Parquette, 
25  cts.;  2nd  Tier  of  Boxes,  for  colored  persons, 
25  cts.  No  female  admitted  unless  accompanied 
by  a  gentleman.  Doors  open  at  ij  past  7.  Per- 
formance to  commence  at  S  o'clock  precisely. 
70 


TKI.KIMii  .\i.     1!  \KKl30N    '64., 

Wm.   Zankkr     -         -         -        -        President 
o^'AR  A.  Reim,  Secretary  and  Treasurer 

Zander- Reum 
Company 

CONTRACTING 
PLASTERERS 


512    LAKESIDE    BUILDING 
CLARK   AND   ADAMS   STREETS 

CHICAGO 


IROQUOIS  THEATRE    PLASTERING 
DONE   BY  THIS  COMPANY 


The  audience  was  large,  representative,  and  t'a>.hionable. 
All  the  pioneers  who  had  built  the  little  city  were  there.  Their 
wives  and  daughters,  mothers,  and  sweethearts  were  there 
with  them.  They  were  all  as  happy  as  the  genial  manager, 
who  was  always  cheerful,  even  in  adversity.  It  was  a  new 
dawn  for  the  little  city,  its  sunrise  of  art,  for  it  was  then  just 
ten  years,  three  months,  and  twenty-four  days  old,  with  a 
population  of  but  15,000.  The  front  of  the  house  was  not 
crowded  with  automobiles,  or  even  with  carriages,  for  pleasure 
vehicles  were  rare  in  those  days  and  could  not  have  been  used 
had  they  been  plentiful.  The  roads  were  not  conducive  to  fast 
driving,  and  had  wide  gutters  separating  them  from  the  side- 
walks, when  the  latter  existed.  None  of  the  streets  were  paved, 
and  the  uneven,  broken  sidewalks  with  many  steps  were 
almost  as  bad  as  the  middle  of  the  roadway.  Nor  were  the 
men  in  evening  attire.  They  wore  their  swallow-tailed  coats 
of  blue  cloth  with  brass  buttons,  and  buff  waistcoats.  The 
audience  was  an  inspiration  to  the  players.  Aviditors  and 
actors  were  equally  anxious  to  please  each  other.  Those  before 
the  footlights  seemed  to  say  in  their  applause:  "  Followers  of 
Shakesjieare's  calling  you  are  welcome!  You  are  among  friends' 
Give  us  from  the  bounty  of  your  art  and  we  will  give  you  our 
applause.  x\.nd  when  the  play  is  done,  we  will  smile  upon  you 
with  our  friendship  in  your  new  home.  Remember  alwaj> 
that  we  desire  to  see  '  the  players  well  bestowed.'  "  And  the 
players,  gladdened  and  inspired,  spoke  and  acted  with  new 
spirit,  as  if  they  meant  to  say  :  "  We  appreciate  j-our  welcome 
and  we  are  grateful.  "We  hope  to  be  worthy  of  yo'ur  approba- 
tion. Let  us  be  friends."  If  the  audience  was  an  inspiration 
can  less  be  said  of  the  players?  "Were  not  Mrs.  Louisa  Hunt, 
Dan  Marble,  and  John  B.  Rice  on  the  bill  that  glorious  history- 
making  evening  in  June  ?  And  has  Chicago  not  been  faithful 
to  the  memories  of  inimital)le  Mrs.  Hunt,  laughter-provoking 
Dan  ^larble,  and  honest,  noble  John  B.  Rice?  And  you  know, 
do  you  not,  that  Mrs.  Louisa  Hunt  had  been  born  Louisa  Lane, 
that  she  was  the  brilliant  comedienne  who  afterward  mamed 

the  comedian  of  the  company,  George  Mossop.  and  win  >  after  his 

81 


Frank  Parwtelee 

Gomjianil 


Established  1853 


Haihcad    i^iUJ>en6er  (and 

wo  V ' 

^agf^age  Transfer 


Office  132  East  Adams  Street 
Telephone  Harrison  1914 

BAGGAGE  TRANSFERRED 

TO  AND  FROM  RAILROAD  DEPOTS, 

HOTELS.  AND  RESIDENCES 

PROMPT  SERVICE 

Theatrical  Transfers  a  Specialty 


death,  in  1S4S,  became  Mrs.  John  Drew,  the  greatest  Mrs.  Mala- 
prop  Chicago  ever  knew?  The  opening  address,  written  by 
G.  W.  Philliniore,  a  member  of  the  company,  and  delivered  by 
Edwin  Harris,  was  in  three  parts — "  To  The  Audience,"  "  To 
The  Boxes,"  and  "  To  The  Pit."  No  one  accused  Mr.  PhilHmore 
of  writing  good  poetry,  but  every  one  admitted  that  his  heart 
was  in  the  right  ])lace.  A  popular  member  of  this  company 
was  ilrs.  Rice,  who  was  born  ^lary  Ann  Warren,  a  sister  of 
William  Warren  and  IMrs.  Dan  Marble.  She  made  her  debut  as 
Helen  in  "  The  Hunchback,"  July  26, 1S47.  She  retired  from  the 
stage  in  1S54.  ^md  died  at  Colorado  Beach,  California,  March  23, 
1S93.  Mr.  Rice  was  a  man  whose  word  was  as  good  as  a  bond. 
On  one  occasion  the  audience  was  offended  at  Bai'ney  Williams, 
who  did  something  on  the  stage  offensive  to  the  Irish  people 
2:)resent.  They  refused  to  allow  Williams  to  proceed  \\:ith  his 
lines,  and  then  Mr.  Rice  appeared  upon  the  scene,  informed 
his  patrons  that  if  they  allowed  Mr.  Williams  to  finish  his  per- 
formance and  complete  his  engagement,  he  would  give  them 
his  word  of  honor  that  Mr.  Williams  would  never  again  be 
permitted  to  play  at  his  theatre.  The  riot  was  quelled  and 
Mr.  Williams  was  never  re-engaged.  Among  the  men  who 
came  here  to  attend  the  Harbor  and  River  Convention,  and 
who  patronized  the  playhouse,  were  Horace  Greeley,  who 
represented  the  .Wtc  Vor/c  Tribune  ;  Thurlow  Weed,  who 
wrote  for  the  Xeiu  York  Evening  Journal,  and  Abraham 
Lincoln,  the  last  named  being  then  thirty-eight  years  of  age 
and  in  Chicago  for  the  first  time.  One  of  the  great  attractions 
in  those  days  was  T.  D.  Rice,  of  '-Jim  Crow"  fame,  who  had 
dropped  little  Joseph  Jefferson  out  of  a  bag  when  the  latter,  at 
the  age  of  four,  made  his  first  appearance  on  the  stage.  Rice 
made  his  first  appearance  here  on  July  12,  1S47,  as  Ginger  Blue, 
the  Mummy,  in  "  Mummy."  The  next  night  Jerry  Merrifield, 
who  became  a  popular  comedian  here,  made  his  first  appear- 
ance as  Peter  Spyke  in  "  The  Loan  of. a  Lover."  At  this  time 
Mrs.  Hunt  was  featured  as  a  stock  star,  and  having  a  fondness 
for  male  roles  won  much  favor  in  them.  On  July  28,  1S47,  she 
appeared  as  Claude  Melnotte  to  the  Pauline  of  Mrs.  Rice.     The 

83 


most  popular  aclor  seen  here  in  those  days  was  James  E. 
Murdoek,  wlio  trod  the  boards  of  a  Chicago  stage  for  the  first 
time  on  August  2.  1S47.  The  play  was  "  Hamlet."  Mrs.  Hunt 
was  the  Ophelia  ;  Mrs.  Rice,  the  Queen  ;  Mr.  Harris,  the  Ghiist ; 
and  Mr.  Mossop,  the  Laertes.  The  next  night  Mr.  Murdoek 
played  Romeo  to  Mrs.  Hunt's  Juliet.  Actors  were  versatile  in 
those  days.  On  September  11,  1S47.  Mr.  Ryer,  the  tailor,  still 
an  amateur,  appeared  as  Hamlet,  "by  the  advice  of  his 
friends."  The  enthusiasm  was  so  great  that  one  admirer  threw 
him  a  purse  of  $25.  The  stage  in  Chicago  has  undergone  many 
changes.  The  lamented  Julia  Dean,  gifted,  beautiful,  and 
probably  the  most  popular  actress  of  her  day,  made  her  debut 
at  Rice's  on  October  5,  1S47,  as  Julia  in  ••The  Hunchback." 
"Her  smile  was  a  language  of  itself;  joy  and  anguish,  hope 
and  fear  ;  love  and  scorn  flitted  across  her  young  face  with  the 
grace  of  sunbeams  and  shadows." 

James  Hubert  McVicker  made  his  first  appearance  in 
Chicago.  Tuesday,  May  2,  1S4S.  Mr.  McVicker,  whose  name 
was  then  spelt  McVicar,  made  his  debut  as  Mr.  Smith  in  "  My 
Neighbor's  Wife."  The  relations  between  Mc^'icker  and  Rice 
were  always  of  the  most  cordial  character.  During  the  first 
week  in  Jvine  of  i84S,an  luiusual  state  of  affairs  exi-sted  in 
Chicago.  Five  places  of  amusement  were  x)pen  at  one  time; 
Ravmond  &  Waring's  Menagerie  was  the  place  to  see  the 
elephant ;  Winter's  Diorama,  the  place  to  see  "Jerusalem  and 
the  Court  of  Baljylon  "  ;  Rice's  Theatre,  the  place  to  see  acting  : 
Winchell's  entertainment,  the  place  to  hear  good  singing  ;  and 
Tom  Thumb  was  at  the  Court  House,  "the  place  to  be 
kissed  ",  for  a  girl  that  had  not  been  kissed  by  Tom  Thumb 
felt  like  a  spinster  who  had  never  had  an  offer  of  marriage. 
And  all  the  notice  that  Edwin  Fon'est  received  from  the 
Ell e7iing  Journal,  after  he  had  made  his  debut  at  Rice's  on 
June  S,  1S4S,  was  the  following:  "A  crowded  audience  were 
delighted  with  Mr.  Forrest's  Othello  at  the  theatre  last 
evening.  Mr.  P'enno,  as  lago,  was  most  superior,  and  Mrs. 
Hunt's  Desdemona,  charming.  To-night  Mr.  Forrest  appears 
again   in   the  character  of   Hamlet."    And    an    enterprising 


citizen  who  had  I'clt  called  upon  ta  ask  Mr.  Forrest  "  how  lie 
liked  Chieago",  received  this  answer  from  the  actor  who  had 
climbed  up  and  down  our  sidewalks,  "  How  do  I  like  Chicago? 

Why  the  whole place  is  set  for  '  Mazeppa.'"     And  so 

far  as  we  know,  the  first  actor  to  step  out  of  the  character  and 
make  a  speech  during  or  after  a  performance  in  Chicago  was 
l^dwin  Forrest,  who  spoke  at  the  conclusion  of  his  first  engage- 
ment on  Friday  evening,  June  23,  1S4S,  after  playing  King 
Lear  for  the  first  time  here.  Then  came  "  the  noblest  Roman 
of  them  all."  Junius  Brutus  Booth  made  his  first  appearance 
on  Friday,  September  22,  1S4S,  in  "  Richard  III."  On  Sep- 
tember I,  1S48,  Chicago  had  .^rown  to  19,724  souls,  and  on 
November  25,  1S4S,  the  second  season  at  Rice's  elo.sed,  Mrs. 
Mossop.  formerly  ^Irs.  Hunt,  distinguishing'herself  by  playing 
Alfred  Evelyn  in  "  Money,"  and  I^ucretia  Borgia.  And  still 
the  city  was  without  good  sidewalks,  roadways,  or  gas.  July 
2S,  1S50,  Mr.  Rice  began  an  experiment  with  grand  opera, 
opening  with  "  La  Somnambula,"  the  cast  including  Eliza 
Brienti,  Miss  Matthews,  Mr.  Manvers,  and  Mr.  Dubreill.  The 
theatre  was  destroj-ed  by  fire  July  30,  1S50.  Loss  $4,000.  On 
February  3,  1851,  Mr.  Rice  opened  his  second  theatre  on  the 
same  spot,  but  the  entrance  had  been  transferred  to  IJearborn 
Street.  The  new  building  was  of  brick  and  cost  Si i. 000.  Mr. 
Rice  made  a  notable  improvement  by  abolishing  the  pit, 
because  of  its  noisy  occupants,  and  building  a  gallery  at 
the  top  of  the  house,  almost  over  the  stage.  The  former  pit 
was  called  the  parquet  and  respectable  people  were  then  no 
longer  afraid  to  see  the  play.  The  opening  attractif)n  at  the 
new  house  was  a  triple  bill:  "Love  in  Humble  Life,"  "The 
Captain  of  the  Watch,"  and  -'The  Dumb  Belle."  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  G.  H.  Gilbert  were  members  of  the  company,  the  now 
revered  "  Dear  old  Mrs.  (Gilbert,"  being  then  a  popular  dancer. 
It  was  here  that  John  Dillon,  "  recently  graduated  from  a  New 
York  concert  saloon,"  made  his  first  local  appearance.  In  1S61, 
Rice's  Chicago  Theatre  was  converted  into  a  business  house. 
Meanwhile  another  theatre  was  opened.  This  was  North's 
Amphitheatre,  which  stood  on  the  south  side  of  ^Fonroe  Street, 


east  of  Wells  Street.  Its  manager,  Levi  J.  North,  offered  a 
unique  entertainment,  inasmuch  as  the  drama  was  preceded 
by  a  cii'cus,  the  stage  being  built  on  wheels  and  run  over  the 
circus  ring.  It  was  afterward  known  as  the  National  Theatre 
and  existed  until  1S64. 

Thursday  evening,  November  5,  1S57.  McVicker's  Theatre 
was  opened.  The  stock  company  was  large  and  representative 
and  appeared  in  "The  Honeymoon"  and  "'The  Rough  Dia- 
mond." H.  A.  Perry,  who  appeared  as  the  Duke  Aranza,  was 
an  admired  actor  of  his  day.  Edwin  Booth's  first  appearance 
was  made  here  May  31,  1S5S,  appearing  in  "A  New  Way  to 
Pay  Old  Debts,"  followed  by  "Richelieu,"  John  Howard 
Payne's  "Brutus"  and  "Richard  III."  All  the  great  actors 
of  that  period  played  at  McVicker's,  Edward  A.  Sothern  mak- 
ing his  debut  in  1861,  James  H.  Hackett,  the  great  Falstaff  of 
that  day,  in  1S65,  and  Mrs.  Mary  F.  Scott-Siddons  in  1869. 
The  theatre  was  remodeled  in  1864,  and  in  1S68  Joseph  Jeffer- 
son produced  "  Rip  Van  Winkle"  for  the  first  time  here.  The 
theatre  was  rebuilt  in  1S71,  at  a  cost  of  $90,000,  and  re-opened 
with  "  Extremes"  six  weeks  before  the  great  fire  of  October  9, 
1871,  when  it  was  burned  with  the  rest  of  Chicago.  Again 
the  theatre  was  rebuilt,  and  re-opened  August  15,  1872,  with 
Douglas  Jerrold's  "Time  Works  Wonders."  In  18S5  the  theatre 
was  again  remodeled.  On  August  26,  1890,  during  a  run  of 
"  Shenandoah."  it  was  again  destroyed  by  fire.  It  rose  from 
its  ashes  on  March  31,  1892,  Joseph  Jeflferson,  William  J. 
Florence,  Mrs.  John  Drew,  Miss  Viola  Allen,  and  Frederick 
Paulding  appearing  in  "The  Rivals."  After  Mr.  McVicker 
died  on  March  7,  1896,  the  theatre  was  conducted  by  Mrs. 
IMcVicker,  who,  on  May  i,  1898,  leased  it  for  a  term  of  years 
to  Jacob  Litt,  who,  in  1902.  purchased  the  entire  property  from 
Mrs.  McVicker.  It  was  something  of  a  coincidence  that  Mrs. 
McVicker  leased  the  theatre  to  Mr.  Litt  just  fifty  years  minus 
a  day  after  the  date  of  her  husband's  professional  debut  in 
Chicago.  The  story  of  McVicker's  Theatre  would  fill  many  a 
volume.      All  the  great  actors  of  the  day  appeared  here  for 

a  period  of  fortv  vears,  most  of  the  great  names  of  the  dramatic 

86 


and  musical  professions  having  brightened  the  history  of  this 
house.  Not  only  the  famous  stars,  but  many  of  the  best  known 
stock  actors  won  favor  here,  for  during  the  greater  portion  of 
Mr.  McVicker's  career  the  great  stars  were  supported  by  the 
stock  company  of  the  house.  And  on  many  occasions  the  in- 
imitable Mr.  McVicker  would  himself  appear  either  at  the  head 
of  his  own  company  or  in  the  support  of  eminent  stars  like 
Charlotte  Cushman  or  Edwin  Booth.  His  most  memorable  per- 
formances were  those  of  Mr.  Simpson  to  the  Mrs.  Simpson  of 
Charlotte  Cushman  in  "Simpson  &  Co.',"  and  of  the  First 
Grave  Digger  in  "  Hamlet,"  Dogberry  in  "  Much  Ado  About 
Nothing,"  Bottom  in  •'  Midsummer's  Night,"  and  Launcelot 
Gobbo  in  "The  Merchant  of  Venice,"  when  Edwin  Booth  was 
the  star.  These  iive  roles  were  distinctively  his  own.  Mr. 
McVicker  was  a  comedian  and  a  manager  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  word,  and  as  a  citizen  of  Chicago  he  was  so  popular 
and  so  public-spirited  that  his  memory  will  never  be  dimmed 
by  time. 

Still  another  famous  playhouse  was  Colonel  Wood's  Museum 
at  iii-ii-  Randolph  Street,  which  was  opened  with  a  number  of 
curiosities  August  17,  1863,  and  in  November,  1S63,  converted 
into  a  playhouse,  when  "The  Bohemian  Girl"  was  given  by 
the  Holman  Opera  Companj-.  "  The  Lady  of  Lyons "  was 
the  first  play  given,  and  for  some  time  eminent  players  of 
this  day,  such  as  Frank  E.  Aiken,  McKee  Rankin,  William 
J.  LeMoyne,  and  Owen  Fawcett,  were  admired  members  of 
the  stock  company,  which  was  so  popular  that  before  the  fire, 
when  long  runs  were  unknown,  "The  Ticket  of  Leave  Man" 
was  played  consecutively  for  six  weeks. 

And  all  Chicago  remembers  Crosbj^'s  Opera  House,  which 
stood  on  the  north  side  of  Washington  Street,  between  Dear- 
born and  State  Streets,  and  opened  with  "  II  Trovatore," 
April  26,  1S65,  at  a  cost  of  $500,000,  by  J.  Grau's  Italian 
Opera  Company.  Miss  Clara  Louise  Kellogg,  now  Mrs.  Carl 
Strakosch,  was  a  member  of  the  company.  Here  the  great 
spectacular  plaj-s  of  the  day,  "The  Black  Crook,"  "The  White 
Fawn,"  and  "  The  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold"  were  given,  as 


well  as  all  the  great  operas  ami  German  ilramas,  for  here 
Fanny  Janauschek  and  Marie  Seebach  played  the  tragedies  of 
Schiller  and  Goethe.  And  on  this  stage  the  citizens  of  Chicago 
presented  a  silver  wreath  to  Madame  Janauschek,  Dr.  Ernst 
Schmidt  being  the  spokesman  of  the  occasion.  And  now  the 
great  tragedian  is  practically  dying  in  want.  Like  the  other 
playhouses,  Crosby's  Opera  House,  which  was  to  be  re-dedi- 
cated by  the  Theodore  Thomas  Orchestra,  Marie  Krcbs, 
pianist,  and  Bernhard  Listemann,  violinist,  on  Monday,  Octo- 
ber 9,  1S71,  was  burned  to  the  ground  that  morning,  the 
orchestra  reaching  Twenty-second  Sti'eet  on  its  way  from  the 
East.  At  the  time  it  was  said  that  Theodore  Thomas  differed 
from  Nero  inasmuch  as  he  roamed  away  while  his  fiddles  were 
burning. 

No  less  than  three  theatres  wxTf  named  after  Frank  E. 
Aiken,  Chicago's  popular  leading  man  of  that  day.  For  a 
time  Wood's  Museum  was  known  as  Aiken's  Theatre,  after 
Col.  J.  H.  Wood  retired.  Another  Aiken's  Theatre  was  built 
on  the  east  side  of  Deai'born  Street,  one  block  south  of  the 
spot  where  Rice's  Chicago  Theatre  had  stood.-  It  was  opened 
January,  1S69,  by  a  stock  company  playing  ■•  Cyril's  Success." 
In  August,  1S69,  it  was  transformed  into  the  Dearborn  Theatre 
and  occupied  b}'  Emerson.  Allen  &  Manning's  Minstrels  and 
other  attractions,  such  as  Charles  Wyndham  in  the  Robertson 
comedies.  Still  another  Aiken's  Theatre  was  ei-ected  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Wabash  Avenue  and  Congress  Street,  and 
opened  October  7,  1S72,  by  the  Theodore  Thomas  Orchestra. 
Here  Anton  Rubinstein  and  Wienawski  gave  their  meriiorable 
concerts.  Here  Lawrence  Barrett  produced  "Julius  Caesar," 
and  while  playing  Cassius  stepped  out  of  the  role  to  speak  Marc 
Antony's  oration.  Frank  Lawler  being  the  Marc  Antony,  'fhe 
theatre  was  burned  in  the  second  Chicago  fire  of  July  i^,  1S74. 
Meanwhile  other  places  of  amusement  were  opened.  They 
included  Bryan  Hall,  at  87  and  89  Clark  Street,  built  in  i860 
for  concerts;  the  first  Academy  bt"  Music,  at  124  Washington 
Street,  opened  December  i.  1S63,  and  devoted  to  Arling- 
ton, Kellv,  Leon  &  Donnikers  Minstrels,  and  later  to' English 


THE 

A.  H.  Andrews  Co 

174-176  Wabash   Avenue 
CHICAGO,         ILL. 

Seated    tHis     "IROQUOIS"     THeatre 


Xarcicet  /IRanutacturcrs  of: 

(0prra  au^  abratrr  ^ratinri.  (0fitrr  a^^  iUauk  5FiiniUurr 

(Cburrlj  an^  ^rluml  iFunittiirr.  ^trrl  fflirr  (Cljairs 

aablra  an^  ^tiuUs 


A   FEW  OF  THE  LEADING  THEATRES   FURNISHED   BY   US: 

Iroquois,      Chicago.      MCVICKERS',      Chicago,      AUDITORIUM,      Chicac 
Powers',   Chicago;    GaRRICK,    Chicago.     METROPOLITAN.    New    Yor» 

Chicago    Opera     House.    Chicago.    St.    Charles,    new    ohlean^ 

DALVS,       New       Yohk;        ACADEMY,       New        York.         LYCEUM,        Memphi! 

Toronto,    toromto      Prospect,    ci-evei-and      Academy,    buffalo 


opera  by  the  late  Sher  Campbell  and  the  present  William 
Castle  ;  the  tirst  Olympic  Theatre,  at  the  northwest  corner  of 
Clark  and  Jlonroe  Streets,  opened  Jiih-  15,  1S6S,  by  Arlington's 
Minstrels,  and  the  Globe  Theatre  on  Dcsplaines  Street,  between 
.Madison  and  Washington  Streets,  opened  November  21,  1S70. 
by  a  stock  company  playing  "  The  Rivals."  The  last  named 
was  the  only  theatre  that  escaped  the  fire. 

After  the  great  fire  the  walls  of  the  old  Postofifice  at  Dear- 
born and  Monroe  Streets  were  utilized  as  the  framework  of  a 
theatre  that  was  opened  January  11,  1S75.  with  a  burlesque 
under  Leonard  Grover's  management.  J.  H.  Haverly  recon- 
structed it  in  1S7S.  and  called  it  Haverly's  Theatre,  opening  it 
with  the  Colville  Folly  Company  in  "  The  Babes  in  the  Woods." 
It  was  used  as  a  theatre  until  iSSo,  when  it  was  demolished. 
It  was  here,  on  Aj^ril  i,  1S75,  that  Will  J.  Davis,  who  had  been 
associated  with  W.  W.  Cole  of  Grover  &  Cole,  first  came  into 
view  professionally,  as  J.  H.  Haverl\'"s  trusted  lieutenant,  yiv. 
Davis  growing  to  be  the  dean  among  local  managers.  During 
1S77  and  1S78,  Mr.  Davis  was  not  associated  with  this  house, 
l)ut  he  returned  in  1S79,  '^»f^  every  faithful  Chicagoan  is  grate- 
ful to  him  for  his  share  of  the  prosperity  of  this  house  that 
first  introduced  us  to  such  distinct  and  lasting  successes  as  the 
Chicago  Church  Choir  Company,  Her  Majesty's  Italian  Opera 
Company,  the  Carlcton  Opera  Companv.  and  the  Chicagcj 
Ideals. 

A  great  and  good  man  to  whom  Chicago  is  indebted  for 
much  was  the  late  Richard  M.  Hooley.  familiarly  and  rever- 
ently called  "Uncle  Dick  Mooley. "  Mr.  Hooley  came  here 
from  Brooklyn  in  1S70,  and  transff)rmed  Bryan  Hall  into  a 
handsome  theatre  called  Hooley's  Opera  House.  It  was  opened 
Jaraiary  2,  1871,  by  Hooley's  Minstrels,  and  when  it  was 
destroyed  in  the  great  fire  Mrs.  F.  W.  Lander  (  Jean  Daven- 
port )  was  to  appear  in  an  English  version  of  Giacometti's 
■'  Elizabeth."  For  a  while  Mr.  Hooley  had  a  stock  company 
in  conjunction  with  Frank  E.  Aiken,  with  Mr.  Aiken  as  lead- 
ing man,  the  first  play  being  "  The  Two  Thorns."  After  the 
fire  the  theatre  was  rebuilt,  and  after  being  called  the  Coliseum 


and  Hamlin's  Theatre,  was  remodeled  in  iSSo,  and  called  the 
Grand  Opera  House,  and  leased  to  John  A.  Hamlin.  It 
was  opened  September,  iS8o,  bj'  Hoey  &  Hardy  in  "A 
Child  of  the  State."  Mr.  Will  J.  Davis  was  acting  manager 
of  the  Grand  Opera  House  at  this  time  and  remained  thei-e 
two  years,  giving  the  house  its  legitimate  start.  After  the 
great  fire  Mr.  Hooley  built  Hooley's  Theatre  on  Randolph 
Street,  east  of  La  Salle,  and  opened  it  October  17,  1872, 
with  the  Abbott- Kiralfy  Company.  In  1876  and  1877  it  was 
known  as  Haverh-'s,  and  then  restored  to  Mr.  Hooley  and 
his  partner,  Simon  Quinlan.  Later  Mr.  Hooley  became  its 
exclusive  manager  and  remained  so  until  his  death  in  Sep- 
tember, 1893.  Here  for  some  years  Mr.  Hooley  had  an  excep- 
tional stock  company  that  included  at  different  times  such  well- 
known  players  as  James  O'Neill,  William  H.  Crane,  Harry 
Murdock,  John  Webster,  John  Dillon,  George  Rj-er,  George 
Giddens,  Nate  Salsbury,  Louise  Hawthorne,  Minnie  Doyle, 
Nellie  McHenry,  Sidney  Cowell,  Susan  Denin,  and  last,  but  not 
least,  the  famous  Mrs.  Clara  Fisher  Maeder.  May  i,  1898,  the 
theatre  passed  from  the  control  of  the  Hooley  estate  into  the 
hands  of  Harry  J.  Powers,  who  had  been  associated  with  the 
house  since  October  15,  1877,  when  the  attraction  was  Jarrett  & 
Palmer's  "  Sardanapalus,"  and  who  gave  it  the  name  of  Powers' 
Theatre,  although  the  favorite  name  of  "  The  Parlor  Home  of 
Comedy "  still  clings  to  it.  A£ter  a  complete  reconstruction 
based  on  designs  by  Benjamin  H.  Marshal,  who  afterward 
became  the  architect  of  the  Illinois  and  Iroquois  theatres,  it  was 
opened  as  Powers'  Theatre,  August  2^,  1S9S,  with  Eflie  Shannon 
and  Herbert  Kelcey  in  Ch^de  Fitch's,  "  The  Moth  and  the 
Flame."  For  thirty-one  years  this  plaj'house  has  made  theatri- 
cal history.  Most  of  the  eminent  players  and  singers  of  the 
generation  have  appeared  upon  its  boards,  and  here  many  of 
our  younger  actors  have  made  their  local  debuts  as  stars.  Here , 
since  Mr.  Powers  first  became  connected  with  the  house,  we 
have  seen  Lawrence  Barrett,  Clara  Morris,  Robson  and  Crane, 
Fanny  Janauschek,  Fanny  Davenport,  Helena  Modjeska. 
K.  A .  Sothern ,  John T.  Raymond,  John McCullough ,  Nat  C.  Good- 


win,  Emma  Abbott,  Clara  Louise  Kellogg,  George  S.  Knight, 
Lotta,  E.  H.  Sothern,  Mrs.  Scott-Siddons,  Maggie  Mitchell, 
Genevieve  Ward,  Roland  Reed,  Minnie  Maddern,  Annie  Pixley, 
Henry  E.  Dixey,  Rosina  Yokes,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kendall,  Mar- 
garet Mather,  E.  S.  Willard,  Eleonora  Duse.  Ada  Rehan,  Olga 
Nethersole,  William  Gillette,  John  Hare,  John  Drew,  Sol  Smith 
Russell,  Julia  Arthur,  Julia  Marlowe,  Maude  Adams,  Sir  Henry 
Irving,  Ellen  Terry,  and  a  host  of  others,  many  of  whom 
have  passed  into  the  Great  Hereafter.  No  wonder  then  that 
to  old  and  young  this  playhouse,  which  has  ever  maintained 
the  highest  standard,  is  indeed  a  "  Home." 

John  B.  Carson  built  a  theatre  on  Monroe  Street,  between 
Dearborn  and  Clark,  and  called  it  Haverly's.  It  was  opened 
Monday,  September  12,  1881,  by  Robson  and  Crane  with 
"Twelfth  Night."  It  was  managed  bj^  J.  H.  Haverlj'  and 
afterward  by  C.  H.  McConnell,  during  whose  i-egime  Mr. 
Will  J.  Davis  was  his  acting  manager.  On  the  last  night  of  the 
second  engagement  of  Henry  Irving  and  Ellen  Terry,  Satur- 
day, January  31,  1885,  Ellen  Terry  christened  the  house  the 
Columbia  Theatre.  In  1889  Mr.  Carson  offered  his  house  out 
of  hand  to  Mr.  Will  J.  Davis,  who  associated  himself  with  Mr. 
Al  Hayman,  then  of  San  Francisco  in  a  ten  year  lease  of  the 
theatre,  and  on  Friday  afternoon,  March  30,  1900,  during  an  en- 
gagement of  the  Rogers  Brothers,  it  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

Other  theatres  built  from  time  to  time  were  : 

Myers'  Opera  House,  on  Monroe  Street,  between  State  and 
Dearborn  Streets ;  Samuel  Myers,  manager  ;  opened  Septem- 
ber 23,  1872. 

The  Standard,  afterward  the  Bijou,  at  the  corner  of  Jackson 
and  Halsted  Streets  ;  built  by  a  Mr.  Townsend  of  this  city, 
opened  by  Fay  Templeton  in "Girofle-Girofla"  December  31,1883. 

Chicago  Opera  House,  at  the  corner  of  Washington  and 
Clark  Streets ;  opened  by  John  W.  Norton  &  Co. ,  with  David 
Henderson  as  manager,  August  18,  1885,  with  Thomas  W. 
Keene  in  "Richard  III." 

The  new  Chicago  Theatre,  now  the  Olympic  Theatre, 
on    Clark   Street,   between   Lake   and   Randolph  :    opened   by 


James  H.  McVicker  in  August,  1S75,  with  "Apple  Blossoms.* 
Called  the  Olympic,  in  May,  1SS5. 

Hopkins'  Theatre,  on  State  Street  near  Harrison,  was  opened 
!)y  Robert  (iraham  in  "Wanted  a  Partner,"  October  i,  1SS4. 

The  Windsor  Theatre,  later  the  Lincoln,  on  North  Clark- 
Street,  near  Division,  was  opened  September  16,  1SS6. 

The  Haymarket  Theatre  on  West  Madison  Street,  near 
Halsted,  was  dedicated  by  Thomas  Keene  in  "Richard  HI" 
December  24,  1SS7,  under  the  management  of  Mr.  Will  J. 
Davis.  Thomas  W.  Keene  had  the  distinction  of  opening  two 
Chicago  playhouses  with  the  same  play. 

Baker's  Theatre,  afterward  Havlin's.  and  now  the  Colum- 
bus, was  opened  with  "The  Pearl  of  Pekin "  November  6, 
iSSS,  and  leased  to  J.  H.  Havlin  May  27.  1SS9.        ^ 

The  Clark  Street  Theatre,  on  North  Clark  and  ^Michigan 
Sti-eets  ;  opened  by  H.  R.  Jacobs,  with  "  Said  Pasha,"  October 
27,  1SS9. 

The  Alhambra,  on  State  and  Nineteenth  Streets,  was  opened 
by  the  Emma  Juch  Grand  English  Opera  Company  in  "  Faust." 
.September  i,  1S90. 

The  Schiller'  Theatre,  later  the  Dearborn  and  now  the 
Garrick,  was  opened  in  September,  1S92,  with  four  weeks  of 
German  comedy,  and  dedicated  to  the  English  drama  with 
"  Ciloriana,"  October  17,  1S92. 

The  Great  Northern  Theatre,  A.  M.  Palmer,  manager,  was 
opened  bj^  Henry  Miller  in  "Heartsease,"  November  9,  1S96. 

The  Auditorium  was  dedicated  by  President  Harrison  and 
Adelina  Patti,  ^londay,  December  9.  1SS9.  Gounod's  "  Romeo 
and  Juliet  "  was  given  the  next  night  with  Mrne.  Patti  as  Juliet. 

The  vStudebaker,  on  Michigan  Boulevard,  between  Van  Buren 
and  Congress  Streets,  was  opened  with  a  concert  September  29. 
1S9S,  and  was  first  used  as  an  opera  house  .by  the  Castle  Square 
Company  in  •'  Faust,"  Monday,  Api'il  3,  1S99. 

The  opening  of  the  Illinois  Theatre,  on  Jackson  Boulevai-d. 

Monday  evening,  October  15,  1900,  with  Julia  Marlowe  in  Clyde 

Fitch's  "Barbara  Frietchie  "  marked  a  new  era<  inasmuch  as 

it  was  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Chicago  that  a  playhouse 

93 


was  cfjnstructed  and  employed  solely  for  theatrical  purposes. 
There  are  several  older  houses  in  New  York,  Philadeli)hia,  and 
Savannah.  Ga. ,  that  are  similarly  built  and  used,  but  they  art- 
the  important  exceptions  to  an  almost  unanimous  rule.  It 
was  built  by  the  Haymau  c^-  Davis  Co..  with  .Mr.  Will  J.  Davis 
as  manager.  While  it  was  being  built  all  sorts  of  names  were 
suggested,  ]Mr.  Davis  making  a  plea  for  a  name  that  would  be 
symbolical  of  the  city's  history.  Finally  Charles  Frohnian 
said  :  "  Whv  not  call  it  the  Illinois.^"  And  Illinois  it  became, 
and  worthilv  so,  as  something  of  a  rebuke  to  the  naming  of 
theatres  either  after  individuals  or  in  imitation  of  some  English 
name  to  which  its  birth  and  career  are  wholly  foreign.  And  so. 
to-day,  the  Illinois  Theatre,  after  a  career  of  a  little  over  three 
years,  typifies  all  that  is  most  beautiful  and  good  in  the  modern 
theatre.  Like  the  first  playhouse  Chicago  ever  had,  its  name 
is  Indian.  It  is  also  noteworthy  that  the  architect  of  the  Illinois 
is  ])rob£iblv  the  ycnmgest  man  who  ever  designed  a  theatre,  for 
Benjamin  H.  Marshall  was  barely  twenty-six  .years  of  age  when 
the  Illinois  became  a  reality. 

When  the  new  playhouse  that  is  now  being  dedicated  was 
first  planned,  Mr.  Will  J.  Davis  was  ready  with  a  name  for  it, 
a  name  that  would  be  a  tribute  to  the  first  inhabitants  of  this 
continent.  Mr.  Davis'  devotion  to  the  history  of  the  Indians 
has  been  constant,  and  he  was  deeply  impressed  by  the  fact 
that  in  early  days  they  were  led  by  the  Iroquois,  composed  of 
the  Five  Nations,  afterward  the  Six  Nations,  for  the  Senecas, 
iMohawks,  Onondagas,  Oneidas.  and  Cayugas  were,  in  17 ty. 
joined  by  the  Tuscaroras.  So  this  theatre,  designed  to  be  a 
leader,  was  named  the  Iroquois.  And  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  it  was  on  the  anniversary  of  the  nation's  birth  that  Mr. 
Marshall  prepared  the  first  designs  for  the  new  house,  namely, 
on  July  4,  1902.  Our  first  inhabitants  can  not  be  forgotten, 
when,  in  our  search  for  wholesome  amusement  and  instruc- 
tion, we  remember  that  our  first  and  latest  playhouses  were 
called  respectively  Sauganash  and  Irf)quois. 


14  DAY  USE 

LOAN  DEPT. 

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